Dance helps individuals with Parkinson’s disease negotiate their identity

A recent study by the University of Eastern Finland and Balettakademien Stockholm found that performing in a dance company and being involved in its activities play a major role within the identity and disease-related identity negotiation in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Performing within the dance company and sharing the strategy of performing with others created a powerful group identity for the dancers with Parkinson’s disease. The dancers’ experiences of watching and being watched provided them with novel ways of expressing themselves and being seen without their identity being related to Parkinson’s disease.

Earlier studies have focused on dance interventions in group settings, i.e., dance classes, geared toward rehabilitation and social participation. They’ve shown that dance is a promising type of adjunct therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease. In individuals with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease for instance, dance has led to significant improvements in balance, gait and functional mobility. The brand new study, published in Nordic Journal of Dance, focused on the importance of dance as a performative art form in Parkinson’s disease. The study involved eight dancers from the Swedish Kompani Parkinson dance company, which performs each in Sweden and abroad. The dancers accomplished a web-based questionnaire and most of them also participated in a spotlight group interview.

The dancers considered cohesion, division of responsibilities, peer support, acceptance and trust as essential features of functioning throughout the group. The study suggests that membership in the corporate and group identity also enabled the dancers to barter their personal identity.

The group offered trust and social support in a way that was not based on cognitive or physical ability, but on embodied expression. For the participants, this was something latest and significant.”

Hanna Pohjola, Senior Researcher, University of Eastern Finland

For the dancers with Parkinson’s disease, the novel group identity provided a possibility to barter an embodied identity that was tied to artistry – to not Parkinson’s disease. Although the disease sets its limits on what the body can do, the dancers weren’t limited or confined by art, allowing them to rediscover themselves.

“Being an element of the group and performing as a member of the corporate also allowed the dancers to vary their perception of the self. Being a dancer and having expressive capability were seen as something without limitations, allowing people to grow and develop despite possible functional limitations.”

The study was conducted as a part of the Narrating through Dance in Life Fractures project, which is funded by the Kone Foundation. The project examines the experiential and psychosocial consequences of dance in numerous life transitions.