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

17 Aug 2008
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118436.php

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.

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