Dance student Elissa Mckeand goes through some moves with teacher Erica Rose Jeffrey.
Dance student Elissa Mckeand goes through some moves with teacher Erica Rose Jeffrey.  Photo: Christopher Pearce
Lifting an arm into a sweeping movement can be a challenge for someone living with Parkinson's disease. For some, co-ordinating arm and leg movements can seem like an impossible task. Some experience intermittent bouts of rigidity and balance can be precarious.
Despite these challenges, thousands of people living with Parkinson's are attending dance classes all around the world in an innovative program designed to encourage a love of dance and artistic expression.
The Dance for Parkinson's Disease program is a collaboration between the Brooklyn Parkinson Group and the acclaimed Mark Morris Dance Group, which is performing at the Sydney Opera House and will be hosting classes for Sydneysiders with Parkinson's led by professionally trained dancers this weekend.
What began as a creative dance class for six students, a musician and a professional dancer in Brooklyn in 2001 is now an international program spanning more than 100 communities in nine countries. There are two weekly classes held in the inner west, with an intention to expand across the city.
"It is not clinical therapy and it is not a miracle. It is a dance and music program tailored directly for people with Parkinson's," New York choreographer Mark Morris says. "It was once a month for a couple of hours and now it's several nights a week, with a big mob of people all over the world. It's kind of incredible. It's hugely successful."
Parkinson's Disease is a progressive, degenerative neurological condition whose symptoms include tremors, muscle rigidity and freezing, slowed movement and lethargy. Anxiety and depression is common. Parkinson's NSW says about 10 per cent of those diagnosed with the disease are younger than 40 and  20 per cent are of working age. There are at least 30,000 people living with Parkinson's in NSW, with an estimated 80,000 nationwide.
Erica Rose Jeffrey, the co-ordinator of  Dance for Parkinson's Disease in Australia, says the classes – which can encompass ballet, contemporary dance, tap and musical theatre – are structured to cater for those with a range of mobility issues. Some movements are performed seated, progressing to supported and free movement options across the dance floor.
"We work on all the things professional dancers work on – artistic expression, balance, rhythm, co-ordination and musicality," Jeffrey says. "They tell us they feel like real dancers, not like a patient in a dance class."
Participants report feeling lighter or more graceful, she says.
"Some say they felt more comfortable dancing at a wedding or playing with their grandchildren after taking the classes. People feel a lightness in their bodies and a change in their expressiveness."
Dr Neil Mahant, a neurologist and movement disorder specialist at Westmead Hospital, says a growing number of studies point to the positive effect exercise has on the condition.
"Parkinson's makes movements small and slow, and exercise can help to reverse this," Dr Mahant says. "Power training [rapid and strong movements], balance training and fitness can make a huge difference to quality of life and symptom control."
Jeffrey says the community class on Sunday at the Sydney Opera House is important because it will be held on the Joan Sutherland Theatre stage with professional dancers from the Mark Morris Dance Group.
"This isn't just taking the arts to care centres or hospitals. It's including people in the centre of the city at an arts venue with a very high-quality international dance company," she says. "This tells them they matter, that they are valued, that they are included."