![Let's Dance!](https://cdn.magzter.com/Reader's Digest India/1720437301/articles/66eIwF3Wu1720522848032/LETS-DANCE.jpg)
Wearing all black and sitting on a tufted white ottoman in her sunlit living room, Sarah Robichaud is teaching a routine inspired by modern ballet to 80 students on Zoom. The Bolshoi-trained dancer spreads her arms wide in exaggerated movements to a slow cover of The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” as her students get into the groove.
“We’re just going to start with a gentle, gentle sway, back and forth,” Robichaud says to the group. “I want you to think that there’s a thread attached to your wrist and someone’s pulling that thread from side to side.” Many of her students are seated as well. More than half of them have Parkinson’s disease and typically movement can be difficult, but when they try to mirror her fluid and graceful movements, a look of ease comes over them.
Growing evidence shows that dancing can boost brain health and help manage symptoms of neurocognitive and movement disorders, including Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer’s, dementia and brain injury. For example, a 2021 York University study showed that weekly dance training improved motor function and daily living for those with mild to moderate Parkinson’s. This piggybacks on other findings that show how activities that target balance, coordination, flexibility, creativity and memory work can improve Parkinson’s symptoms.
Robichaud started Dancing with Parkinson’s in 2007 as a way to give back to her community. A few years later, her grandfather was diagnosed with the disease. Robichaud was able to dance with him in his long-term care home until his final days.
“The compassion and care that I have for our dancers is that they’re all my grandfather,” she says.
Recently, one of her students, a man in his 50s who had been adamant that dancing wasn’t for him, said that he now has more dexterity in his hands and generally moves more freely.
“I can’t deny how this is changing my life,” he told her.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Reader's Digest India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![ME & MY SHELF](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/nU_OyWlCr1721888389615/ME-MY-SHELF.jpg)
ME & MY SHELF
Chitra Divakaruni is the author of 23 books including The Forest of Enchantment, Mistress of Spices and Palace of Illusions. Her latest book is An Uncommon Love: The Early Life of Sudha and Narayan Murthy.
![RD RECOMMENDS-BOOKS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/IsynfI7lj1721888060395/RD-RECOMMENDSBOOKS.jpg)
RD RECOMMENDS-BOOKS
Hanuman Chalisa and More
![Who's Getting Colon Cancer](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/IOWwMhBz21720528008390/crp_WHOS-GETTING-COLON-CANCER.jpg)
Who's Getting Colon Cancer
With rates rising among younger people, testing should start sooner
![25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/-4oz_GG4W1720522283064/crp_25-LESSONS-THAT-LAST-A-LIFETIME.jpg)
25 Lessons That Last A Lifetime
Suggestions about life are a little like lottery tickets: You may collect a lot of them, but they rarely pay off. Yet if you are truly lucky, you receive a few words of wisdom that inspire you forever. That's called hitting the jackpot
![A Symphony Of Irritation](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/5PFqGG6B31720527754140/crp_A-SYMPHONY-OF-IRRITATION.jpg)
A Symphony Of Irritation
In the 2022 film Tár, Cate Blanchett played a conductor who was affected by misophonia—an acute sensitivity to certain sounds. For Lydia Tár, Blanchett’s character, the clicking of a pen or the beat of a metronome was enough to drive her to distraction.
![Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/fqK0bpngj1720527278622/crp_IS-POVERTY-ALLEVIATION-TRULY-POSSIBLE.jpg)
Is Poverty Alleviation Truly Possible?
We ask economist and Nobel laureate Esther Duflo
![The Alpha Dog](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/T5wTXKUvH1720527563640/THE-ALPHA-DOG.jpg)
The Alpha Dog
To rescue lost animals, she climbs into places most of us avoid
![Let's Say Yes!](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/LbkybjTnM1720527115337/LETS-SAY-YES.jpg)
Let's Say Yes!
What started out as a way to get my son to try new foods opened up a world of adventure for my family
![Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/hj4jPmkc91720526326152/HEY-DAD-CAN-YOU-HELP-ME-RETURN-THE-PICASSO-I-STOLE.jpg)
Hey Dad, Can You Help Me Return the Picasso I Stole?
A painting went missing in 1969, then turned up at a museums doorstep. No one knew how or why—until now
![Band of Survivors](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/232/1759019/XfAb9CgWL1720526020638/BAND-OF-SURVIVORS.jpg)
Band of Survivors
Armed with his drum kit, a Holocaust survivor fights anti-Semitism one musical note at a time