David Leventhal on Dance for Parkinson’s Disease: Where Arts and Science Intersect

NJCU Presents Presidential Lecture by David Leventhal

On Dance for Parkinson’s Disease: Where Arts and Science Intersect

Free Event at Liberty Science Center on April 17

New Jersey City University (NJCU) will present a program on Dance for Parkinson’s Disease on Tuesday, April 17 at 9:00 a.m. at Liberty Science Center (Liberty State Park, 222 Jersey City Blvd in Jersey City).

A growing body of scientific research by major university research centers points to the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson’s disease. Launched in 2001 as a collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, Dance for PD® has developed internationally acclaimed dance classes for people with Parkinson’s in New York City and through a network of partners in more than 24 countries.

Founding instructor and Program Director David Leventhal will present on Dance for PD®, using it as a case study for looking at the intersection of arts and science. A guest speaker at universities around the world, Mr. Leventhal also teaches a pioneering, dance-based course at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Mr. Leventhal's presentation will be followed by a demonstration dance class specifically for people with Parkinson's from 11:00 a.m. -12:15 p.m. A number of leading neurologists and movement disorder specialists around the world recommend Dance for PD classes to their patients, and this is an opportunity for Jersey City area individuals with Parkinson’s and their care partners to experience a class with the founding instructor of the program.

Both the presentation and demonstration dance class are FREE with RSVP and open to the public. The program is part of NJCU’s 2017-18 Presidential Speaker series, and presented in partnership with Liberty Science Center. RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/keynote-speaker-david-leventhal-dance-for-parkinsons-disease-tickets-41508535146 and for more information, visit www.njcu.edu/arts.

About DANCE FOR PD

Dance for PD®, founded in 2001, offers specialized dance classes to people with Parkinson’s, their families, friends and care partners in eight locations around New York City and through a network of affiliates in more than 100 communities in 24 countries around the world. Dance for PD classes allow people with Parkinson’s to experience the joys and benefits of dance while creatively addressing symptom-specific concerns related to balance, cognition, motor skill, depression and physical confidence.

Originally founded as a collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, and now administered by the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Dance for PD program provides teacher training, nurtures relationships among other organizations to foster classes around the world. An advisory board, made up of world-renowned neuroscientists, neurologists, health care professionals and researchers, provides guidance and stewardship.

Dance for PD® has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Dance Magazine, The Guardian and hundreds of other publications, as well as on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS and NPR. The program has been honored with several awards, including the Parkinson Awareness Award, Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award, the Sapolin Award for Public Service from the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, and the William Pearson Tolley Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Life Long Learning.

More than 35 peer reviewed scientific research studies conducted at a number of major university research centers around the world including Roehampton University, University of Florida, Queensland University of Technology, York University and the University of Freiburg point to the benefits of dance for people with Parkinson’s.

David Leventhal was a member of the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997-2010. During that time, he appeared in more than 40 of Mark Morris' dances, and received a 2010 Bessie (New York Dance and Performance Award) for his performance career. He has taught technique and repertory classes for students of all ages at schools and universities in the U.S. and abroad, including UCLA, University of Michigan, Harvard University, The Juilliard School, University of Washington, University of Illinois, American Dance Festival and the Governor's School for the Arts (Virginia) among others.

Mr. Leventhal is Program Director and a founding teacher of MMDG's Dance for PD® program. He received the 2016 World Parkinson Congress Award for Distinguished Contribution to the Parkinson community and the 2013 Alan Bonander Humanitarian Award. He's co-produced three volumes of a successful At Home DVD series for the program and has been instrumental in initiating and designing innovative projects involving live streaming and Moving Through Glass, a dance-based Google Glass App for people with Parkinson's. He is in demand as a speaker at international conferences and symposiums, and has spoken about the intersection of dance, Parkinson's and health at the Lincoln Center Global Exchange, Edinburgh International Culture Summit, University of Michigan, Rutgers, Penn State Hershey Medical Center, Brown, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, Tufts, and Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège (Belgium), among others. Mr. Leventhal designed and currently teaches a pioneering dance-based elective course that is part of the Narrative Medicine curriculum at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. Raised in Newton, Mass., he trained at Boston Ballet School and attended Brown University where he received a B.A. in English Literature.