​Who We Are

 

Daphne Cushnie is a Parkinson’s specialist neurological physiotherapist with a complementary degree in dance studies. She has studied the moving body, and the workings of the brain and nervous system in some depth. She has also learned what really works and what people living with Parkinson’s have said matters to them during a long NHS career. Daphne’s response has been to combine the clinical eye and the artistic eye in an integrated creative approach to movement for Parkinson’s.

 

Dr Mel Brierley leads Dance and Movement for Parkinson’s workshops and classes across the Northwest, and her group work, entitled ‘Connect and Flow’ encourages participants to connect to their own body and mind, to each other, and to the wider environment. Her PhD explored one-to-one home-based movement practice and found that being supported in this way enabled many people to develop a ‘can do’ attitude in the face of Parkinson’s. Penny Collinson is a highly experienced dance and health practitioner. She is a movement artist, somatic movement educator and therapist. She was senior lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) for 23 years and led the ground-breaking MA course in Dance & Somatic Wellbeing: Connections to the Living Body for over a decade.

 

Penny and Melanie are co-founders of the newly registered Shoreline, Health in Movement Community Interest Company whose work will advocate for the field of dance and health, and supports its participants through workshops, training, mentoring, and networking.
 

What We Are

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We have worked together for many years within the field of dance and health. Melanie and Daphne co-led the first ever Dance and Movement for Parkinson’s project in the UK at the Lanternhouse Centre in Ulverston way back in 2007 and subsequently helped to co-found the Dance for Parkinson’s Network UK in 2010.

 

What the three of us have in common is a shared love of movement, years of experience and dedicated practice, and a passion to build compassionate models of healthcare for the Parkinson’s community.

 

The Project

'Bring Me Sunshine - Moving Well with Parkinson’s' begins on Monday October 7th, 2024 and runs for six weeks until 18th November (excluding 21st October).

Please know we’re not just going to disappear after the project finishes. If you like what you’ve experienced and want to do more, with your encouragement, we would like to set up an ongoing class for you in this area.

The second aspect of the project involves working with local NHS healthcare organisations and other providers. We’re running an educational workshop at the end of the project on Monday 25th November at 2-4pm, at the Dalton Community Church, to explain the significance and application for this body of work with a view to future collaborations.

What the three of us have in common is a shared love of movement, years of experience and dedicated practice, and a passion to build compassionate models of healthcare for the Parkinson’s community.

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Our Approach to Movement

‘Your Own Signature’
 

There is a significant difference between generalised, prescriptive exercise programmes for Parkinson’s and a personalised somatic, creative approach.

 

What do we mean by creativity in this context and how may participants benefit from it in both functional and unexpected ways? Somatic movement springs from our own sensory experience, for example, what we can feel, touch, hear and perceive. We are each as different as our signatures. If we can tap into the wellspring of our individual sensory experience and find presence, connection, and expression from there, in conversation with others, it can speak to all of who we are. This is an innate human capacity.

This is not to oversimplify or suggest that Parkinson’s doesn’t mean that you don’t have key aspects in common. Of course that’s true. Or that generalised exercise programmes are wrong. However, we believe that there are alternative ways of moving which have added value whilst simultaneously addressing the common problems related to Parkinson’s. We will address not just the motor problems you may have but also speech, cognitive capacity, perception and emotional wellbeing.

We all know that finding ways to keep moving when you have Parkinson’s is vitally important. What you might be less aware of is the large body of evidence which demonstrates that music, dance, and rhythm play a special role in supporting and regulating movement in Parkinson’s.

 

We don’t mean dance as in Strictly or hip hop. We use music, touch, spoken word, small equipment, and imagination to create a rich multisensory environment and support each person’s movement vocabulary. Our sessions are a source of connection, flow, joy, and laughter as well as a means of improving mobility and communication. We hope you will find pleasure in movement and in moving together.

 

We welcome anyone affected by Lewy Body Dementia or with a dual diagnosis alongside Parkinson’s. This can be a most confusing condition in more ways than the obvious. You may experience a variety of visual and spatial disturbances even if you are not experiencing hallucinations. Our approach includes working to entrain the perceptual field, in other words, what you see and feel and how you respond to that. This is where directed creative tasks and the use of equipment have great potential to make a difference because of the way we can interpose an imaginative interactive field between mover and environment.

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To book your place please either click on the button below, email daphnjecushnie@gmail.com or speak to Daphne Cushnie on 07580 243127.

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Duration: 1.45hrs (2:00pm - 3:45pm)

Booking: Booking essential

Location: Dalton Community Church, Market Street, Dalton, Barrow

Dates:

7th October 2024

14th October 2024

28th October 2024

4th November 2024

11th November 2024

18th November 2024

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