In collaboration with Dance for PD®, Dance Base is offering an Advanced Training Workshop in the Dance for Parkinson’s methodology.
Key Details
Dates: Monday 4 September – Tuesday 5 September 2023
Times: 9:30-17:30 each day
Location: Studio 3, Dance Base 14-16 Grassmarket Edinburgh
Who is it for?
- Dance artists already teaching/supporting Dance for Parkinson’s classes.
- Dance artists who have an interest in teaching/supporting Dance for Parkinson’s classes or want to learn more.
Content
This Advanced Training Workshop will take place over two full days and consist of intensive experiential and practical sessions in the studio. Artists will cover training modules focusing on development of key philosophies and methods, issues related to working with people with Parkinson’s, working with musicians, and integrating choreography and repertoire. The workshop will include a mixture of discussion and practical elements, working directly with experienced teachers Julie Symmonds and Jen Cunningham, with a special guest appearance (online) from Dance for PD® founding teacher David Leventhal.
Registration process
Complete your registration here.
Deadline: Friday 18 August 09:00
(we may close earlier if we have a high level of interest.)
(For non-Scottish-based artists) You will be sent instructions to pay the training fee.
To take part in this training workshop, artists should meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the FAQ at the bottom of this page.
PRE-REQUISITE: To take part in the training, you must already have completed the People Dancing/Dance for PD® – Dance for Parkinson’s Online Learning Module. If you have not completed this, but would like to attend the training session, you should sign up and complete the course asap. It will take around 8 hours to complete. Please get in touch with Dance Base if you have questions about this.
There are no waiting requirements for advanced training workshops after completing the online course and Introductory Training, but the professional development experience is much more meaningful when trainees have been assisting or teaching in an actual Dance for Parkinson’s class for at least 6 months.
Dance Artist CPD
If you don’t yet meet these criteria, you may still be able to take part in the workshop on a CPD-basis. If you are an artist who:
- Has an existing community/ participatory dance practice.
- Is not yet teaching Dance for Parkinson’s classes.
- Has not yet done any other training.
- Is keen to learn more!
Please get in touch to see if the course is right for you.
Cost
Scottish-based artists: free* for 2-day intensive training.
This includes one-year basic membership to Dance for PD® (valued at $50). Refreshments (e.g. tea, coffee, fruit) will be provided.
Please note, for Scottish-based artists the cost of the training is covered by funding from The Scottish Power Foundation, who have generously supported Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland. This funding has enabled Dance Base to continue to support the network of Dance for Parkinson’s artists and classes across Scotland, as well as our Edinburgh-based class. To find out more about the project and our partnership with Scottish Ballet to create the Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland Network, see here.
Artists based outside of Scotland: £200* for 2-day intensive training.
This includes one-year basic membership to Dance for PD® (valued at $50). Refreshments (e.g. tea, coffee, fruit) will be provided.
Access Costs
Dance Base has a limited budget available to support Scottish-based dance artists to attend this training. This can cover any access requirements (such as BSL interpretation or physical assistance), child-care, and any travel and accommodation costs that are necessary for you to attend the training.
- Indicate whether you would like to request access costs in your registration form.
- Dance Base will then send you an access cost form.
- Completed access cost forms should be returned no later than Friday 18 August at 9am.
- Dance Base will process access cost forms and inform artists if their request has been approved after the submission deadline. We hope to be able to cover all costs requested, but in the case that requests exceed our access budget, we may offer a percentage of requests.
Please get in touch with Emma Smith, Head of Dance for Health and Wellbeing if you have any queries: Emma.smith@dancebase.co.uk
Leaders & Guest Speaker
Training leader
Julie Symmonds
Julie is a Dance for PD® certified teacher and has a wealth of experience teaching Dance for Parkinson’s classes.
Training support
Jen Cunningham
Jen Cunningham teaches the DfP class in Edinburgh and has supported the expansion of Dance for Parkinson’s classes across Scotland, leading classes and mentoring new artists from Inverness to Peebles. Alongside her DfP work, Jen is a dance artist and maker and has worked with Oceanallover, Suzi Cunningham.
Guest speaker
David Leventhal
David is the Program Director and a founding teacher of the Dance for PD® programme at Mark Morris Dance Centre in Brooklyn, New York. David 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 2,000 teachers in the Dance for PD® approach in 25 cities around the world. Read his full bio here.
FAQs
Dance Base and Scottish Ballet are delivering this training workshop in collaboration with Dance for PD®. In order to maintain the quality and founding principles of the Dance for PD® program, artists completing this course should meet the following criteria:
- Embody documented proficiency in at least one major dance style (ballet, classical Indian, modern, jazz, tap, ballroom, Argentine Tango, flamenco, West African etc.)
- Have at least 3-5 years’ experience consistently teaching dance in a group setting
- Demonstrate ability to adapt dance techniques and styles to a special population
- Demonstrate ability to create original, dynamic sequences of dance movement in several styles
- Demonstrate sensitivity and patience
- Demonstrate proficient musicality and sense of rhythm
- Performing experience is recommended but not essential
We’ll ringfence places for artists with the necessary experience for this training workshop. If you are interested, please get in touch as we may still have enough space for more people to join.
We have a capacity limit of 20 participants.
The training workshop will be delivered as an Advanced Training Workshop from Dance for PD®, which covers a breadth of information related to Parkinson’s as a condition and the principles and approach to teaching the Dance for PD method over the course of two days. We encourage artists to attend both days, if at all possible, to gain full benefit from the intensive.
Artists that have already undertaken practical training (in addition to the People Dancing module) may attend on a part-time basis if full attendance is not possible. However, artists with no direct experience of delivering Dance for Parkinson’s must attend the full 2-day workshop. Please note that part attendance will not include access to access to one-year basic membership to Dance for PD®.
We will ring-fence spaces for dance artists that are already leading or are interested in leading DfP classes. If there are enough spaces available, we will be able to offer spaces on the workshop to volunteers. Please contact Dance Base if you are interested in taking part in the workshop from a volunteer perspective.
We will ring-fence spaces for dance artists that are already leading or are interested in leading DfP classes. If there are enough spaces available, we will be able to offer spaces on the workshop to musicians. Please contact Dance Base if you are interested in taking part in the workshop from a musician perspective.
The Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland programme is funded by the Scottish Power Foundation to support DfP classes across Scotland. This money supports the classes, training and infrastructure of the work that happens in Scotland. We do not have funding to support artists based outside Scotland, but we gladly welcome these artists to join take up this opportunity and join the training session if they are able to pay the full workshop fee.