We move forward together

Dear reader,

As I reflect on the events of this last month in the United States and the increasing polarization and tension globally, I consider the role DanceStream Projects can play in offering an alternative mode of being: one that centers on belonging, dignity and collective well-being.

Coming back from a week-long convening with global Atlantic Fellows on Catalyzing Change through Creative Approaches to Critical Conversations, I am reminded of the need for rest and the prioritization of collective love and support. As I learned from South African friends who joined the convening, we need to center “Ubuntu”, the understanding that "I am because we are".

Looking forward into what is next, all of us at DanceStream Projects are committed to being there for our communities, to rebuild trust in our own ability to effect change that allows us to thrive. We are also committed to listening, allowing each person to be seen and heard, and to building collective belonging, agency and care. We commit to continue ally-ship in dance, in movement and in community.

As we do so, we ask you to join us on our first Giving Tuesday campaign, launching next week. Save the date for December 3, 2024 in your calendar and stay tuned for exciting ways you can become involved in ensuring everyone can access the powerful gift of dance to spark their brain health in 2025!

Together we can and will move forward.

With gratitude,

Magda

Sharing our Latest Research on Dance and Dementia at NOAH

Our founder, Magda Kaczmarska, presented at the 2024 National Organization for Arts and Health Conference hosted in Houston, Texas, joining national arts and health leaders (researchers, practitioners and advocates) in sharing a vision for the role of the arts in extending health to our communities.

Magda’s talk, ““Creating oneness, Witnessing uniqueness:  Dance, Dementia and Belonging” discussed results from a mixed-methods pilot study on the powerful role of dance among people living with dementia across the United States.

The research, supported by a Pilot Award for Global Brain Health Leaders (GBHI, Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Society UK), illuminated key findings that point to the benefits dance brings in promoting brain health and wellbeing.

Here are some highlights:

• Engaging in three months of online dance resulted in significant decreases in anxiety as reported in qualitative interviews with people living with dementia:

“I can let go of my anxiety, my fear for that hour a week.”

• People living with dementia commented on how dancing makes them feel good:

“It felt really good to be moving.”

• Connecting with peers helped people living with dementia cope:

“The connection with all of you aided me tremendously in coping with our condition.”

• Joining in the Stories in the Moment dance program helped people living with dementia feel a sense of community:

“The oneness that was created made it very special.”

• Care partners benefited from the program as well, citing a sense of joy that lingered beyond the program
• People living with dementia and their care partners recognize the value of direct collaboration with trained artists who demonstrate a passion and work with them to shape a supportive environment

Based on the preliminary results from this project, we were invited to submit a proposal for a New to the Field Alzheimer’s Association Research Grant, to objectively and subjectively represent the benefits of dance to multiple domains of brain health. Stay tuned also for future presentations of the pilot research outcomes and a publication of the comprehensive results in 2025.

Sources and Further Reading:

• What Could More Dance Research Mean For Dementia? Conversation with Deborah Kan from Being Patient, September 4, 2023.
• Kaczmarska M. Valuing embodiment: Insights from dance practice among people living with dementia. Front Neurol. 2023 Jun 5;14:1174157. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1174157.

Celebrating Community Action on Belonging and Brain Health through Dance in Queens, NY

On November 1, 2024, over 160 older adults from across Queens joined DanceStream Projects executive director Magda Kaczmarska and dance artist Hilary Brown-Istrefi for a Community Dance Party celebrating Belonging in Action and the many ways we connect to support our brain health through dance.

This event, hosted by our ongoing community partner, Queens Community House, wrapped up a Queens-wide project, to bring together communities of older adults and people living with dementia in conversation about dance, brain health and belonging.

Following a shared lunch, brain health trivia and collective dance, the event culminated with the reveal of a 4’x10’ foot artwork created by Chilean artist designer and dementia advocate Macarena Espina Díaz highlighting the reflections from Jamaica, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Jackson Heights, Pomonok and Forest Hills elders, on ways we can use dance to create spaces of belonging as we navigate changing brain health.

We invite YOU to read this press release to learn more  about how Belonging is an Action we can all take together!

From Our Participants

“One of the things about real health is that the thing to encourage in our bodies is movement and exercise. Dancing not only helps your body, but it helps your whole demeanor. Dancing makes me happy more than any other activity.”

- Participant in Rainbow Stories, Queens, NY

IN THE MOMENT -  Catalyzing Change: Creative Approaches in Critical Conversations

The week of November 11-15, 2024, 30 global Atlantic Fellows and Atlantic Institute staff convened in Santiago and Maipo Valley in Chile to explore the ways creative approaches (dance, visual arts, music, theatre, poetry) can nurture and sustain effective navigation of critical conversations.

Atlantic Fellows, part of seven equity-based global fellowships, are a diverse, international community of leaders who share a deep commitment to advancing fairer, healthier, more inclusive societies. As members of a global community of diverse practitioners dedicated to advancing equity and collectively building a more just and fairer society, we often grapple with “critical conversations”. These courageous and sometimes uncomfortable conversations are the cornerstone of our collective work to learn and unlearn, improve our practice and increase our impact for equity.

Read the entire blog post written by our executive director and Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Magda Kaczmarska, who along with other fellows  collaborated on co-creating this convening. At this time of global conflict, investing in spaces to connect, explore and apply the healing role of the arts is imperative. Whether to nurture different perspectives, learning to hold space for other people or to take space and allow for yourself to be witnessed, the people nurturing the arts as health are vital for all aspects of our society.

Partner Highlight: Meet Maca!

My name is Macarena Espina Díaz. I am an industrial designer from Chile and a Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health. I live in the south of Chile, where I am doing a pilot project on Environmental Design for People Living with Dementia in Rural areas.

I had the opportunity and privilege to collaborate with DanceStream Projects for the Belonging in Action Project doing visual storytelling or sketch-noting, to represent the activities and the opinions shared by the older people attending the Brain Health Dance Social sessions. Reviewing the material and hours of recordings, I saw how impactful the sessions were for different older people from across 6 different neighborhoods in Queens, NY. Considering all the valuable interactions, I tried to visually present the information in a way that people could see themselves and their contributions represented.

Following that, we wanted to take the opportunity of Magda being in Chile, to make an impact in one of our communities too, in this case, Cerro Navia, a neighborhood in Santiago where I grew up. I am also looking forward to join DanceStream on an upcoming project Stories in the Moment: Building Connection where we will be building connections through dance with two communities of people living with dementia in the Bronx and Brooklyn. I will be working with the team to create visual representations of the stories co-created by the individuals in these communities, which will be gifted to them at the end of our time together.

Outside of the collaboration with DanceStream Projects, I am very excited about my pilot project, but I am also collaborating on projects on design of information and transfer of scientific information to the public, which is one of my passions.

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DanceStream Projects: Improving Brain Health Through Dance

DanceStream Projects sparks brain health and builds creative communities through dance and movement. DanceStream Projects aims to shift narratives of aging and dementia from one-note narratives of loss to ones of complexity, growth, and hope, while inspiring awareness, agency, and access to brain health.

DanceStream Projects is a fiscally-sponsored project of New York Live Arts, a 501(c)3 umbrella organization.

DONATE TODAY to bring the healing power of dance to more communities of people living with dementia and older persons around the country and the globe!

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Want to bring a dance or educational program to your community? Email magda@dancestreamprojects.com