Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland

Classes at Dance Base take place every Wednesday from 11.30am-1.30pm, in a joyful and supportive environment. No prior dance experience is required!

  • Spring Term Dates: Every Wednesday from Wednesday 10 January – Wednesday 27 March

*The dance class lasts for 1 hour 30 minutes, followed by an informal ‘social café’ with hot drinks and biscuits provided. Everyone is more than welcome to stay for a wee blether.  Cost is £5 to attend (first class free and partners/carers/friends are free).

Please contact Emma Smith if you are interested in attending or would like more information:

Email:  emma.smith@dancebase.co.uk   Phone: 0131 225 5525. Find out more information about Dancebase

The picture shows participants in a Dance for Parkinson's class. They are facing the camera, with what appears to be some doing jazz hands.


Online Classes

There is also the opportunity to take part in digital Dance for Parkinson’s classes. This term, these are run by Scottish Ballet on behalf of the Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland network and currently take place via Zoom on Fridays from 11.30am. Visit the Scottish Ballet website for more information and to sign up.

The Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland Facebook page also features pre-recorded classes and videos which are suitable for all and free to access. Videos can be enjoyed as many times as you like – feel free to pause, rewind, and replay.


More Information

Aims of the sessions for PwPs and care-partners:

  • wake up stiff muscles and improve flexibility
  • encourage mind-body connection
  • improve co-ordination and balance
  • increase self-awareness and self-esteem
  • provide social time at the end to make connections and feel part of the dance community.

Classes are led by specially-trained dance teachers with live music provided by a musician. Live music can be used flexibly to encourage movement and development of sequences. Sessions begin seated to provide a stable base for warm-up exercises then progress to gentle choreographed movement around the floor. All sequences are adaptable for individual situations of more restricted mobility.

The Branch started this activity in 2010 when it was one of the earliest groups established in the UK following the principles of Dance for PD®. The original concept, arising from collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson’s Group in New York, is now increasingly practised worldwide among the Parkinson’s community.

The class eventually became supported by Dance Base and Scottish Ballet through funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Dr Bethany Whiteside of the Royal Conservatoire, Scotland, presented a review of the Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland programme at the March 2018 Edinburgh Branch Meeting and you can download her presentation as a pdf file.

By kind permission of Bob Dickson and the Afternoon Show at BBC Radio Scotland you can hear a 2019 interview about the DfP Scotland approach .

Branch Member, Lindsay McDermid, compiled a tasteful short video demonstrating the types of movement involved and compiled from a number of PwP Dance Groups. Watch it here:

And here is the Dance for Parkinson’s Scotland own video

Print this page
Back to top