New dance class creates stimulating atmosphere

Complementing the new face of the School of Public Health, a class called Dance for Parkinson’s Disease embraces the idea of public health awareness.

Participants are “empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating and creative,” according to a press release.

“This is a national program,” said Elizabeth Shea, director of IU’s contemporary dance program. “I received a phone call from a woman named Weezie Smith, a professor emeritus from the school of music, who has Parkinson’s Disease. She asked me if we would be interested in bringing the class to Bloomington.”

The class was developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson’s Group in 2003.

Now, they provide teacher training for more than 60 groups across the world,
according to a press release.

Today is the first day the class will be conducted at Windfall Dance Studios.

Program instructor Roberta Wong, an adjunct lecturer in ballet and modern dance, will teach the class. She lives in Indianapolis and will make the trip to IU for the 11: 30 a.m. class.

“It really works well into the school of HPER, which has recently transitioned into a school of public health,” Shea said. “This program reaches out to community members of all ages and backgrounds and seems like a really good fit and a nice direction to take our dance students as far as community service.”

The class is for people who have the disease, but some students in the dance program will observe. Wong has gone through a certification process that enables her to teach the class.

Shea said the class is the first puzzle piece in a larger board of services the dance program is exploring.

“This class is the first part of our Living Dance Community Partnerships,” Shea said. “We have some work we’ll be doing in the spring semester, and next year we hope to offer some free creative movement classes for young people. We’re trying to hit a large range of ages.”

A fee of $5 is suggested per session but is not mandatory. Classes will be 11: 30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday until Dec. 11.

“I have no idea how the turnout will be,” Shea said. “It might take a while to get going and for the word to get out, but I’m gonna be there.”
    
— Makenzie Holland