Allegra Dance Studios Yeppoon, in partnership with the Rockhampton Museum of Art and in consultation with Dance for Parkinson’s Australia, have developed Dance for Brain Health classes that place contemporary visual art at the centre of embodied Dance for PD® practice.
Led by Dance for PD®‑trained teaching artist Alex Darnley Stuart, with Volunteer Dance Assistant and Advocate Dr Jeanette Neden, the program invites participants into an imaginative, physical encounter with The Artists’ Ballet by Sally Smart—a large‑scale installation incorporating textile, assemblage, projection, film, and sculptural scenography.
Rather than using movement to illustrate the artwork, classes translate Smart’s artistic methods into adaptable dance prompts. Participants explore collage and cutting, layering, disarticulation, repetition, constraint, rupture, and repair through guided physical inquiry and creative choice. Visual strategies such as fabric panels, colour systems, and layered spatial fields become choreographic frameworks that support multiple entry points for diverse bodies.
This approach reflects core Dance for Parkinson’s values: meeting participants as dancers, prioritising artistry over outcome, and fostering cognitive, physical, and social connection through shared creative exploration. Situated adjacent to the public gallery where the installation is permanently displayed, Dance for Brain Health demonstrates how partnerships between dance educators and cultural institutions can expand access while remaining grounded in Dance for PD® principles.
Dance for Brain Health is generously supported in partnership with Haymans Electrical.
Images courtesy of Rockhampton Museum of Art. Photo credit – Hello Mae Studio.
