Rush University Medical Center And Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Collaborate To Provide Parkinson's Patients With New Outlet Through Dance

In a first-time collaboration, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago (HSDC) is working with Rush University Medical Center to launch a pilot program in contemporary dance specifically designed for people with Parkinson's disease and related movement disorders. The class, which features live piano accompaniment, takes place Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. at the Hubbard Street Dance Center, 1147 W. Jackson Blvd., in Chicago. The next 12-week fall session begins Saturday, September 6.

The class is as an opportunity for those with Parkinson's disease, as well as their loved ones and caregivers, to derive both physical and emotional benefits from participating in a contemporary dance class, according to physicians at Rush.

"Dance may be an appropriate and effective strategy for improving functional mobility deficits in people who are living with brain disorders such as Parkinson's, stroke and traumatic brain injuries," said Dr. James Young, chairman of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rush.

Parkinson's is a progressive neurological disorder that causes tremors, rigidity, a slowing of movement and difficulty with balance. The movement problems of Parkinson's are caused by loss of the brain chemical messenger dopamine as a result of dysfunction or death of brain cells that manufacture this essential chemical.

"Medications are important in the treatment of Parkinson's, but many symptoms don't respond as well to medications as we would like," said Dr. Kathleen Shannon, neurologist at the Movement Disorders Center at Rush. "Music and other rhythmic stimuli help Parkinson's patients to move better, so dance may help patients regain balance and make more fluid movements. The thought is that by moving to music the brain will reinforce movement pathways, or simply create new ones. Dance also may help the fight against depression seen in Parkinson's disease."

Leading the class is Sarah Cullen Fuller, who danced with HSDC for nearly seven years and is on the faculty of the Lou Conte Dance Studio at the Hubbard Street Dance Center. She trained in the Parkinson's program developed eight years ago by the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn to learn the fundamentals of the program and how to modify a traditional dance class to accommodate the circumstances of the participants.

"I'm very excited about this class," said Cullen Fuller. "Dance for me has always been therapeutic in many ways, although it's important to note that this is not a therapy session. This is a dance class that combines the artistry of dance with live music to encourage one's natural instincts for movement and the benefits that movement can produce physically and socially. It's an opportunity for participants and their loved ones to do something fun together."

Rush is working to secure enough funding to offer these classes on a regular basis and conduct research on the benefits of dance on individuals with Parkinson's.