What is Dance for All, and how did it come to be?
Dance for All, from Abe’s Garden Community, is a program specifically designed for seniors at all stages of aging, including those with dementia or physical limitations, to enjoy dance. Based on my 40 years of bringing dance to special populations, Dance for All offers accessible dance classes in a variety of styles, including Tap, Ballet, Modern, Salsa/Latin, Indian, Hawaiian, Israeli, Greek, and Sign Language.
Many seniors have participated in dance throughout their lives. They frequently comment on missing this activity due to cognitive or health challenges, or lack of access. This program promotes brain health, wellness, social connection, and cultural awareness through engaging dance experiences.
I am committed to supporting those living with dementia, their families and caregivers to have the best quality of life possible. I use dance as a means to do this, as it celebrates the diversity and universality of the human spirit. It is my dream to continue to provide dance as a healthy outlet and make it available broadly for those on this challenging journey.
Dance for All is offered in-person on the Abe’s Garden Campus in Tennessee, with a plan to expand access through a kit for at-home or in-residence use. Dance for All, which continues to be refined throughout implementation, aspires to support 23 additional memory care centers of excellence across the United States and is only growing from here.
Who initially inspired you to grapple with dementia?
My father, Abe Shmerling, a prominent physician in Nashville, retired due to challenges with Alzheimer’s disease. In searching for the best options to meet his changing needs, our family founded Abe’s Garden Community with the goal of identifying what excellence in care can look like.
While visiting communities around the country to select the best options, we encountered the I’m Still Here™ program from Hearthstone Community. They demonstrated that appropriate and meaningful engagement is the treatment for dementia and those with an aging brain and body.
Feelings of isolation, loneliness, loss and despair are common in senior residential environments. Abe’s Garden Community has dedicated resources to continually seek out innovative ways to engage seniors to meet this need, and to support others serving this population to do the same!
How has working on dementia-related art changed you?
In my early career as a dance/movement therapist, I worked with special needs children. Some were nonverbal and experiencing changes in their family situation. They struggled with feelings of loss, depression, anxiety, anger and hyperactivity/reactivity.
These past 17 years, I’ve been working with the aging population. Their physical and cognitive changes create similar limitations that interfere with social connectedness. They experience physical and cognitive changes that keep them from being in the world as they wish.
Bringing dance to those living with dementia and other physical limitations allows me to give them access to some of what they have lost. This is a way for them to regain control, experience their bodies in a positive and fun way, and connect with others.
How has Dance for All been received?
Over the past year, the Dance for All program has been offered to independent and assisted living residents, memory support residents, and adult day program participants. It has received highly positive feedback from participants, caregivers and associates. Generally, it’s a joyful, fun, and educational experience that brings people together.
When I walk through the community, I’m frequently asked about when the next dance session will be happening. Nonactive participants may sit and listen for weeks, before suddenly joining in. We have observed participants who are withdrawn, sullen, sad or agitated start to respond to the music and begin to participate.
Feedback from participants helps me tweak the content and timing to address challenges in making this accessible for others to lead. I’m working with a graduate student to develop an evaluation tool to track levels of engagement with the dance program.
This work is dedicated to: Dance for All was inspired by my family’s journeys with dementia, including my father, his mother, and his sister, who lived with Alzheimer’s disease, and my mother, and her mother, who also lived with dementia.
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