► Learn best practices and methods from one of the program’s founding teachers. ► Hone your teaching skills. ► Deepen your knowledge with our specially-created modules and acclaimed interactive sessions. ► Participate in an actual Dance for Parkinson's class with members of the Lisbon Parkinson's community. ► Enhance your learning experience with our acclaimed pre-workshop online course.
Workshop conducted in English with translation support provided as needed.
"A dynamic workshop and a fabulous life experience. I could not have been more pleased with time well spent.”—Dance for PD workshop trainee
"Dance for PD® is a hands-down success. It’s one of the most important programs for Parkinson’s disease in the country."—Mary Ellen Thibodeau, RN
RI Chapter of the American Parkinson Disease Association
Courtesy of People Dancing (photo by Rachel Cherry)
About Dance for PD® workshops and seminars
Since 2007, more than 1,200 people from 32 states and 20 countries have participated in Dance for PD® (Parkinson's Disease) workshops and seminars, designed and produced by the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Our educational programs are designed to enrich, inform and inspire a diverse group of individuals who want to learn about the unique approach of this internationally acclaimed community arts & health program from its original creators. To learn more about our complete four-step training program, including the pre-requisite online course, please click here.
This workshop
Our introductory workshop is specially designed to help dance teachers adapt your expertise to work effectively and comfortably with the Parkinson’s population under the guidelines and methodology of the Dance for PD® program. You'll cover special modules that focus on class structure, pedagogy and exercise design, and participate in a practicum class to develop class content and teaching techniques with founding teachers and other trainees, in addition to covering general modules about safety and working with Parkinson’s participants.
Although this workshop is specifically geared toward dance teachers, we welcome a diverse group of individuals who may be interested in the workshop for Educational & Professional Enrichment (EPE). In this workshop, you will attend as Active Auditors, participating in all group discussions and modules, while observing the teaching practicum on Day 2. The EPE program is designed to provide a comprehensive and intimate look at core components of the Dance for PD® program so that a wide variety of individuals without dance training or dance teaching experience can learn about our methods and benefit from our resources.
Our introductory workshops are non-certifying. Attendance at one of our introductory workshops is a prerequisite to qualify for our Dance Teacher certification program or Registered Teaching Assistant program.
Courtesy of People Dancing (photo by Rachel Cherry)
Time and location
The workshop will take place on Saturday, 1 April and Sunday, 2 April, 2017 at Centro Cultural de Belém, Praça do Império, 1449-003 Lisboa, Portugal.
Schedule
Start and stop times are set; hourly schedule subject to change.
Saturday, 1 April
10.00 Introduction
11.00-12.00 Class structure/risk assessment/safety
12.00-13.00 Balance and freezing workshop
13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-15.15 Dance for PD® community class
15:30-16:15 Post-class discussion with class participants
16:30-18:00 Designing your lesson plan
Sunday, 2 April
10.00-12.30 Creating and developing class content
12:30-13.30 Practicum I
13.30-14:30 Lunch
14.30-17.00 Practicum II
17.00-18.00 Wrap up
Workshop Tuition
Standard rate: 160€
Member rate: 150€
Intro and Advanced workshop package (3 days) 230€
Tuition includes:
* comprehensive 8-module online course (prerequisite for workshop)
* all printed materials and sessions
* a one-year Dance for PD® program membership with special access to continuing education materials and tools (a 40€ value), and access to our international teachers' listserv.
You'll also be able to add any of our popular and widely-used instructional DVDs and music CDs to your order when you register.
No payment is required to apply. Please click below to complete our application. We will notify you upon acceptance into the training program. At that point, we will let you know about accessing the online course and provide more information about workshop registration.
Professional Development
An advanced training/professional development workshop will take place on Monday, 3 April. Although this course is primarily geared toward existing Dance for PD-trained teachers, you are welcome to add this session to the introductory workshop for fuller experience at an discount bundled rate. Please note that successful completion of the introductory workshop is a pre-requisite for participation in the the advanced workshop.
The workshop will address advanced adaptation techniques, use of music, real-world challenges, administrative logistics, and advanced choreographic and improvisatory techniques.
Tuition for the advanced workshop is 90€ if taken independently, 70€ if added to the introductory workshop fee.
Questions?
For questions about eligibility or workshop content, please email david@danceforpd.org.
Foundation for Community Dance (UK), Photographer: Rachel Cherry
Workshop Reviews
"Extremely well coordinated, very respectful and appropriate content for a broad range of learners!"
—2012 workshop attendee
"This workshop was completely satisfying, both on personal and professional levels. I thoroughly enjoyed each day's activities and the way in which [the trainer] conducted the discussions and experientials. His teaching ability is outstanding, along with his understanding of group process...I feel uplifted and inspired by all I witnessed..."
—2012 Trainee
"My staff reported to me that this was the only training they had ever received in movement/exercise other than cursory information during nursing assistant or nursing training. They were so excited to start using the tools immediately and have other staff to partner with for spontaneous play with each other and the residents."
—2012 workshop attendee and assisted living facility senior manager
"I learned more than I could have ever imagined and I love to dance more than I ever imagined. I have already utilized some of your ideas into my treatment approaches with my patients and they have worked GREAT!"—2011 participant and DPT
Facilitator for these workshops
David Leventhal is a founding teacher and Program Director for Dance for PD®, a collaborative program of the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group that has now been used as a model for classes in more than 100 communities in 17 countries, including Portugal. He leads classes for people with Parkinson's disease around the world and trains other teachers in the Dance for PD® approach. Since 2007, he has trained more than 600 teachers in the Dance for PD® approach in 25 cities around the world. He's co-produced three volumes of a successful At Home DVD series for the program and has been instrumental in initiating and designing innovative projects involving live streaming and Moving Through Glass, a dance-based Google Glass App for people with Parkinson's. He received the 2016 World Parkinson Congress Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Parkinson's Community and was a co-recipient of the 2013 Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award from the Parkinson's Unity Walk. He has written about dance and Parkinson's for such publications as Dance Gazette and Room 217, and has a chapters about the program in two recently published books: Moving Ideas: Multimodal Learning in Communities and Schools (Peter Lang), and Creating Dance: A Traveler's Guide (Hampton Press). He is in demand as a speaker at international conferences and symposiums, and has spoken about the intersection of dance, Parkinson's and health at the Lincoln Center Global Exchange, Edinburgh International Culture Summit, University of Michigan, Rutgers, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Brown, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, Tufts, and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (Belgium), among others. He's featured in the award-winning 2014 documentary Capturing Grace directed by Dave Iverson. As a dancer, he performed with the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997-2011, appearing in principal roles in Mark Morris' The Hard Nut, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, and Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet, on Motifs of Shakespeare. He received a 2010 Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for his performing career with Mark Morris. He graduated from Brown University with honors in English Literature.
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About Dance for PD®
Dance for PD® offers dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease in New York City and, through our network of partners and associates, in more than 100 other communities in 16 countries around the world. In Dance for PD® classes, participants are empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating and creative. Originally launched as a collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, the Dance for PD® program also provides teacher training and nurtures relationships among other organizations so that classes based on our model are widely available. The Dance for PD® method, supported by several peer-reviewed scientific research studies, has been presented at the International Congress for Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders in Berlin (2005), the World Parkinson Congress in Washington, D.C. (2006) and at Neuroscience 2008 in Washington D.C. The program was recognized as a model program at the Society for the Arts in Healthcare’s annual conference (2010). The World Parkinson Congresses in Glasgow (2010), Montreal (2013) and Portland (2016) included Dance for PD demonstration classes. Features about the program have appeared on PBS NewsHour, NPR, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Reuters, and in The New York Times and USA Today, among others. The program has been honored by several awards, including the Parkinson Awareness Award, Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award, the ADA Sapolin Public Service Award from the New York City Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, and the William Pearson Tolley Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Life Long Learning.