Episode 2: How dance impacts your body & your mind with guest Rachel Bar
Today we’re talking about the power of dance, as a tool to help keep our brains fit and engaged. To help us better understand how dancing positively impacts our brains and our bodies, we’re speaking with Rachel Bar – a PhD student at Ryerson University, Vanier Scholar, and a Manager of the Health and Research Initiatives at Canada's National Ballet School. She talks about the physiological, emotional and social benefits of dance, and introduces us to Canada’s National Ballet School’s partnership with Baycrest to develop various dance programs for a variety of different types of seniors.
Rachel Bar graduated from Canada's National Ballet School, and has performed around the world. When she went back to school to complete her undergraduate degree, she started to look at the way dance is learned in the brain. Specifically, she looked at changes in brain activity, while professional dancers were learning a new piece of choreography. One of the regions of the brain that was implicated was the basal ganglia, which is the region that is affected in Parkinson’s disease. This made Rachel interested in exploring how people with Parkinson’s disease experience dance, or if dance is particularly beneficial for them.
Many behavioural studies showed that dance was particularly beneficial for people with Parkinson’s disease. So, Rachel began to explore how she could get more people with Parkinson's dancing, which ultimately expanded to other older adult populations. Rachel has gone on to develop and research programs around dance, which she’s done through her work at Canada's National Ballet School and in partnership with Baycrest.
What is Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s disease is predominantly noted as a movement disorder. Some of the notable physical symptoms are tremors, shaking limbs, movement difficulties, and challenges with initiating movement. There is also something called facial masking, which is when a person with Parkinson’s disease has limited facial expression capacity. There are also cognitive symptoms, as well emotional symptoms - such as depression. So, there’s a high comorbidity with Parkinson's and depression.
Rachel started working with people with Parkinson's and using the Dance for PD (Parkinson’s disease) methodology, which was started by the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn. At Canada's National Ballet School, Rachel was hosting these dance classes and doing some research. She noted that these dance programs were having a huge impact on the participants. Benefits were seen in physiological, emotional and social areas.
The social benefits of dance shouldn't be dismissed. Rachel believes that it's one of the biggest benefits of dance, perhaps over and above other exercises, because dancing is a very social experience.
People started getting interested in the work Rachel was doing and wanted to join the dance program; but, they noted, “I don't have Parkinson's, but I have some physical limitations. Would I be able to do this? I'm also a senior.” It was then that Rachel and her team realized that they needed to think bigger; so, they started to imagine what dance programming could look like for other groups of seniors.
Dance is universal. You see dance throughout history and around the world; People are dancing. We know that it's adaptive, and research has already captured that it is quite beneficial on many different levels. So, if Rachel and her team were to make dance accessible to different senior populations, then they too should be benefiting from it.
Canada's National Ballet School partnered with Baycrest (experts in the geriatric field). They looked at a very specific population: seniors living with really significant physical and cognitive challenges. So, they developed an accessible program specifically for people living with dementia who reside in long-term care homes. They also developed programs for seniors that were higher functioning – perhaps with some physical or minor cognitive challenges, but much more independent. They wanted to create a dance program that was challenging and meaningful for them too.
Canada's National Ballet School also has a “55-plus Ballet Class”, which has been a huge hit for seniors that have always wanted to try out ballet, but didn't feel like they could as beginners. This program has taken off really well.
How is dance beneficial?
Research shows that exercise is very beneficial, especially in older adulthood. You want to keep moving. With dance, evidence shows physiological and emotional benefits (e.g., improvements in mood). There are also social benefits. Some older adults experience loneliness and isolation. In a dance class, you're taking people out of isolation, bringing them together. It's really a social experience that may even connect people to their past experiences of dance. We're also seeing research come out that captures the cognitive benefits of dance. So, dance is exercise, but it's not just exercise for your body. It's exercise for your brain. If you think about it, you have to coordinate your limbs, arms and legs, to move at the same time, which you’re then coordinating to the music - to a specific rhythm or clear beat. Remembering sequences of movement to a beat is a brain exercise. In the dance programs that Rachel is involved with, they're building on dances from week to week. So, there is learning that is going on. Dancing is both a physical and a cognitive (mental abilities) workout.
Below is some information about the Sharing Dance Seniors program that is currently running at Canadian National Ballet School:
Jointly created by Baycrest and the National Ballet School
Class builds over a term, but they certainly have new people joining each term
They have different delivery models, but do offer in-person classes at Canada's National Ballet School (400 Jarvis St., Toronto, Ontario).
You can register for the class online at Canada's National Ballet School's website here
They have a fall, winter and spring term.
The Sharing Dance Senior's Program is a multi-genre type of dance class.
Accessibility is a priority; they have seated and standing versions demonstrated throughout the class, so people can stay in their chair for the entire class. They’ve had people with walkers, as well as people in wheelchairs, that have found this program accessible.
It's not a traditional ballet class by any means. They try to incorporate different genres of dance and music. A diverse class in terms of the styles of dance that they try to incorporate in the program.
A big focus is on creativity. And it's quite a playful class.
How to incorporate more dance into your life?
Register for a local dance class
Turn on the music at home and start moving! While you're moving around the house, really try to be a little bit more mindful about moving to the music and taking the opportunity to be playful with your movements.
There's no right or wrong way to dance. It doesn't have to be in a dance class, and it doesn't have to be in a specific structure.
What Rachel has found in the research, for example with the Parkinson's research, is that it didn't matter what the approach was to dance, whether it was specifically a tango class, or a more eclectic type of dance class, or anything else. There are benefits to dance, regardless of type or form. So, Rachel would encourage you to access dance in any way that you can do so safely.
There is also a lot of research on the impact of dance on increasing flexibility and improving balance. Try paying attention to this next time you’re dancing around your kitchen. You can get that sense of: “I'm balancing here. I'm lifting up one leg over the other and moving my hips around.”
There's a misconception that dancing has to be something specific, or that it has to be learned in a specific way (e.g., that the choreographed dance moves have to be sequenced in a certain pattern). There isn't just one type of dance that will have beneficial outcomes on our minds and bodies. It's really about staying flexible, and moving around. Then, adding in a layer of enjoyment and fun, which contributes to psychological health and wellness. That’s an important piece to focus on.
You'll often hear people say, “Oh, I can't dance.” But, it’s important to remember that there is no right or wrong way to dance. We can all do it! We all respond to music, and hopefully experience the joy that dancing can offer – e.g., reminiscing about past times of engaging in social dancing.
Statistics show that older women are less likely to engage in other types of exercise, such as going to the gym; so, if older women see dance as an accessible form of exercise, then Rachel thinks that this is a good option for them.
For the men out there, Rachel would really encourage you to try dancing (if you aren’t doing it regularly already). For example, in the Sharing Dance Seniors Programs they’re quite mindful about making it a gender-neutral experience. They focus on connecting relevant dancing experiences that their seniors, as they get to know them, would feel familiar and comfortable with.
Dance is for everyone.
Although there may potentially be a barrier to entry (people may be fearful of getting out there and trying it), once people try a dance class, they'll realize that:
It's not for one gender or the other.
It's not as intimidating as people think.
The experience of dancing brings so much joy and happiness.
For Rachel, the most rewarding part is being in the class. She thinks it’s really important for people to understand the unique value dancing can offer to our communities, our culture and our society.
Having been a dancer, Rachel knows the physical, psychosocial, and spiritual benefits; so, she doesn’t need the convincing. But what she loves is being in the class, and seeing the transformation happen (within 45-minutes or an hour) for somebody who has come in from whatever they were dealing with. Whether it's coming in from the street or being wheeled in from their room to the community recreation space in a long-term care home, she sees them transition. She sees the joy on people's faces, or through their movement, or through their eyes. Yeah, it gets Rachel every single time.
To learn more about Rachel Bar and the dance classes that Canada’s National Ballet school has developed for seniors, you can visit their website: www.nbs-enb.ca (or for the Sharing Dance Seniors program: www.nbs-enb.ca/Classes/Baycrest-NBS-Sharing-Dance-Seniors) or call Canada’s National Ballet School at 416-964-3780 and ask for Rachel Bar.