Dear Friends,
2019 was an exciting year for PD Movement Lab. With classes across the U.S. and Asia, a growing digital presence, and performances on some of the biggest stages in the Parkinson’s world, the Lab reached more people than ever.
PTs and OTs learned novel approaches to gait training. Dance teachers learned which types of music PwPs respond best to. And most importantly, people with Parkinson’s discovered new ways to help their bodies move.
While the determination and compassion of the PwPs I work with is always visible, I believe this year it stood out more than usual because I experienced it across a broader range of cultures and communities. From Cleveland, Ohio to Kyoto, Japan, PD Movement Lab classes and performances were filled with PwPs ready to push their bodies, and to help one another through the challenges of PD.
I am lucky that my work allows me to see people who share my condition respond to their disease in such an affirmative manner. I know people are not like this all the time, but nonetheless I am motivated by their effort. They give me the energy to handle my own PD and to look for new ways PD Movement Lab can help others.
I hope you enjoy reading through everything PDML has done over the past year below. We have some exciting projects and announcements planned for 2020, and I hope you will be there to enjoy them with me!
Yours,
Pam
PD Movement Lab 2019 Year in Review
Classes
New York City
Through PD Movement Lab’s core Brooklyn and Manhattan classes, PwPs continued to find new ways to overcome physical challenges and reinforce healthy movement patterns. This year students of the Lab made particularly impressive improvements to their posture. By practicing extending down through their legs, and up through their spines (read this PDML post for more detail) PwPs entered December more upright and proud than they were in January. They deserve a round of applause!
PD Movement Lab classes in New York City are sponsored by Dance for PD and the JCC.
Masterclasses in the U.S. & Abroad
Beyond these core NYC offerings, PDML gave a combination of masterclasses and lectures to academics, PTs, OTs, dance instructors, and people with Parkinson’s. These masterclasses and lectures appeared at:
Top U.S. universities: Brown U., Columbia U., Rutgers U. , Tufts U.
A Japanese Medical School: Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences (Osaka, Japan)
InMotion, a cutting-edge community center: run by the inspiring PwP Karen Jaffe in Cleveland, Ohio
Dance centers in New York and South Korea: Dance for PD, Dancers’ Career Development Center of Seoul
The World Parkinson’s Congress: the most prominent international conference for Parkinson’s Disease
Website
While PD Movement Lab took a break from publishing material on the website this year, our digital reach continued to expand thanks to two generous individuals. They are…
Hiromichi Kawai M.D., a Japanese neurologist who stumbled across our PD Outliers series last April. He liked the interviews so much he translated the series into a booklet for people at the World Parkinson’s Congress in Kyoto. This fall we turned his translations into a Japanese section on our website, which is now live with several articles. In the coming year we will work with Hiro to translate the entire website into Japanese.
PD Movement Lab in Japanese
PD Movement Lab in Polish
Dorota Kańska, a Polish translator who found pdmovementlab.com and used our articles to help her mother become more mobile. Encouraged by her mother’s success with PD Movement Lab, Dorota offered to translate the website into Polish so other people like her mother could benefit too. We have published four of Dorota’s translations in a new Polish section on our website, and we will look to translate the entire website in the coming year.
Dance
Performances
“Ooh Aah!”
at the 2019 World Parkinson’s Congress
“Ooh Aah!” was a piece prepared for the 2019 World Parkinson’s Congress in Kyoto, Japan. The dance was set to the pounding rhythm of Taiko drums, and featured 40 people with Parkinson’s from all over the world, in addition to 10 care givers. The dance closed the opening ceremony of the conference.
Today, a small online community still remains between the performers. Using Facebook translate, they send messages back and forth to one another sharing life updates from their respective countries.
“Give and Take”
at Dance for PD in Performance & Parkinson’s Unity Walk
“Give and Take” was a piece PDML prepared for the dance concert Dance for PD in Performance. It also appeared at the Parkinson’s Unity Walk in Central Park. Chronicling the emotional progression of the disease, the dance featured 14 people with Parkinson’s and six without, and incorporated the use of cuing systems to unlock new choreographic possibilities.
Favorite Quotes about Performances
The World Parkinson’s Congress is about collaboration and perseverance [in the face of Parkinson’s Disease]. “Ooh Aah!” and its performers exemplify this spirit.
-Marie-Francoise Chesselet, President of the World Parkinson’s Coalition
“When I arrived in Kyoto, I was not confident I could do the dance. But once I felt the energy of the other performers around me, I began to believe in my body. It made me excited to move instead of scared.”
-Mie Maruyama, “Ooh Aah!” performer from Shizuoka, Japan
Award
2019 Dance USA Fellowship
In May of this year Dance USA named me as one of their 2019 Artistic Fellows. The organization gave this award to artists they believe not only have a track record of using dance to inspire social change in their communities, but also have the potential to increase the impact of their work. I am humbled by the recognition, thankful for the support they have given me so far, and excited to continue to work with them in the coming year.
Special Thanks
This year’s recap would not be complete without acknowledging the people and organizations who support PD Movement Lab. They make everything the Lab does possible. Thank you!
Dance for PD
Dance for PD sponsors the PD Movement Lab Brooklyn class, and provides the space and administrative support needed to run it. Dance for PD has also been instrumental in providing support for many PD Movement Lab performances, this year including “Give & Take.”
Dance for PD is an organization consistently at the forefront of creating community through dance, and I am proud to partner with them. Thank you David and Maria for all the work you do, I am excited to see what next year brings.
Jewish Community Center of Manhattan
The JCC in Manhattan sponsors the PD Movement Lab Manhattan class, and provides the space and administrative support needed to run it. This year I also severed on several panels hosted by the JCC that addressed quality of life issues for people with Parkinson’s. Thank you JCC for supporting PDML and the Upper West Side community at large!
Eli Pollard
The undisputed highlight for PD Movement Lab this year was performing on stage at the World Parkinson’s Congress. This would not have happened without the dedication of Eli Pollard, the Executive Director of the WPC.
Every three years Eli puts on the Congress with a bare-boned staff, yet somehow manages to overcome this supreme organizational challenge each time. As an attendee of the last four congresses, I have had the opportunity to the see the WPC evolve over the past decade, and in that time it has become a model for patient inclusion. Eli’s support for “Ooh Aah!” was only the latest example of her ongoing dedication to enriching the lives of PwPs. Thank you Eli, and see you at the next Congress!