RECONNECT class

dance for people with and without Parkinson's disease

Mondays
in Broomfield

12:00-1:15pm

Colorado Conservatory of Dance
3001 Industrial Lane, #12, Broomfield
North of Hwy 36 near Flatirons Mall

classAmy

Wednesdays
in Arvada

2:30-3:45pm

Apex Community Center
6842 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO
across the street from the Arvada Center

why RECONNECT?

  • Explore movement and music in ways that are enjoyable, stimulating and creative.
  • Learn a variety of dance styles including Jazz, Modern, Hip-Hop, Contemporary and Ballet. Also includes gentle stretching and strengthening exercises.
  • Join a community of warm and engaging people who genuinely support one another.
  • All bodies benefit, including people with Parkinson’s Disease.
  • No dance experience is required.

These classes explore the power of dance, creativity and artistic expression and enable participants to discover new ways to move their bodies. Dance has the power to transform and heal – plus it’s fun!

COME DANCE WITH US

Twenty Class Pass $220 ($11/class) | Ten Class Pass $120 ($12/class)
Five Class Pass $65 ($13/class) | Drop-in Class $14
Dancers who attend with care partners are two for the price of one

Class Options (click bar for drop down menu)

Class passes are good for one year from purchase date.

Contact Reconnect instructor Sarah Leversee with questions: sarah@artasaction.org or 720-938-6069

Wayne Dancing

Reconnect Scholarship Program

We do not want money to get in the way of anyone being able to DANCE!  The Reconnect Scholarship supports dancers with and without Parkinson's by reducing the per class cost.  If you would like to be considered, please complete this form.

We will let you know via email if we are able to accommodate your request. We have a limited amount of Scholarship funds available and they will be granted on a first come first serve basis.  (Your request and all scholarship awards will be kept 100% confidential).

RECONNECT WITH YOUR BODY IS AN AFFILIATE OF DANCE FOR PD®

Tina Schoenherr, of Hudson, dances to the music during a "reconnect with your body" workout on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the Apex Community Center in Arvada.

dance for every BODY

Art as Action Artistic Director and lifelong dancer Sarah Leversee teaches the classes. Sarah is a Stanley J. Wertheimer Fellow for the Dance for PD® program, which provides in-depth training and mentorship to exceptionally qualified teachers offering high quality dance classes modeled after the Dance for PD® program.

The class begins in chairs, sitting in a circle. Sarah leads the class in a brief meditation, encouraging the participants to focus on their breath and notice how their bodies feel. This moves into the Reconnect version of a sun salutation, sitting in the chairs and moving slowly to music. The music upshifts to the more driving “Howlin for You” by The Black Keys, and the whole group starts to vibrate with excitement. After waking up everyone’s bodies in the chairs, the class moves to standing and dances to everything from Stevie Wonder to Etta James to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy”. At the end of the class the dancers move back into a circle to cool down. After the music ends and Sarah thanks everyone for dancing, they collapse into a satisfied group hug.

Contact Reconnect instructor Sarah Leversee with questions: sarah@artasaction.org or 720-938-6069

Reconnect class allows me to forgive my body for not living up to its full potential and appreciate all the incredible abilities I possess. I become lost in the music and movement, not only my movements but those free-spirited and graceful moves of my fellow dancers. Somehow I forget what brought me to this place where I am symptom free and feel like a dancer. I sense that this is definitely one of the best hours of my week, both for my body and my spirit.

Margie Dahlin Reconnect Dancer

This is far from a typical easy-moving class you might see at the senior center. The music was diverse and cool (The Black Keys, Florence and the Machine) and the choreography was exciting and very well done. But best of all, I loved seeing the change in energy and excitement. At first, many of the participants moved slowly. By the end, one woman said she was feeling so good she skipped out of class. And you know what? Parkinson's or not, I felt like skipping out, too.

Aimee Heckel Reporter Daily Camera

What struck me most when I first started dancing, was how it focused on what I could do - or doing things I never thought of doing - as opposed to all the things I've lost, can't do or am losing... And then I discovered dance was also a new way to creatively express myself as a performer. I could “say” things to an audience as a dancer that I could not as a poet and actor. Dance is full of surprises!

Wayne A. Gilbert Reconnect Dancer

My unrelenting dance partner, PD, has interrupted my rhythm and grace. So I seek the freedom of the dance without PD leading, without PD following. I actually feel graceful here. I can move here. I can dance in circles, not squares. I can move with curves and arcs, not heaves and listings. I sometimes wobble, quiver or tremble. But here no one notices, I’m sure of it. My words: Flowing. Smooth. Gliding. Graceful. Confident. Unguarded.

Amy Dressel-Martin Reconnect Dancer

Before (Reconnect), I referred to my dancing as ‘pathetic.’ Reconnect has given me a new perspective. I now view my dyskinetic movements as creative expressions of the inner self. Dance class is like getting out of jail for an hour and a half.
It’s freedom, and it’s sweet for those of us with or without PD. Thank you for caring about us and transforming us.

Carol Jenkins Reconnect Dancer

Dancing with the Reconnect community and performing with Art as Action (from my wheelchair) brings joy and light to my previous dancer-body: It nourishes and sustains my identity, gives my body and spirit hope, and is just so darn fun!

Carol Cowley Reconnect Dancer