Online dance classes during the Covid-19 pandemic: new challenges and teaching strategies for the ‘Dance & Parkinson’s at home’ project

ABSTRACT

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent social isolation can intensify some Parkinson’s disease (PD) motor and non-motor symptoms. To minimize the damage to the physical and mental health of people with PD, strategies to promote health in this population must be adapted to the new reality. Considering the negative impact of social isolation on the physical and mental health of people with PD, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and considering the importance of using online tools to safely promote complementary therapies to attenuate these issues, we developed an online dance project called ‘Dance & Parkinson’s at home’, inspired by the Samba and Forró Brazilian rhythms. First, from April to July 2020, the activities were offered in an asynchronous learning format (recorded dance classes inspired by the Samba and Forró Brazilian rhythms). Later, from August to December 2020, a blended learning experience was provided (asynchronous – recorded dance classes – and synchronous learning – live-streamed dance classes). This article describes the new challenges faced by the online ‘Dance & Parkinson’s at home’ project and teaching strategies developed to provide online dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• Parkinson’s disease
• dancing
• health
• education
• online learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).2017

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq.

Notes on contributors

Marcela Dos Santos Delabary

Marcela dos Santos Delabary BA in Dance, and MSc in Sports Science. Dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer. Member of the “Research Group in Arts, Body and Education”.

Isadora Loch Sbeghen

Isadora Loch Sbeghen BSc(Hons) in Physical Education, and MSc in Sports Science. Dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer. Member of the “Research Group in Arts, Body and Education”.

Mariana Wolffenbuttel

Mariana Wolffenbuttel BA in Architecture. Dance undergraduate student. Dance teacher. Member of the “Research Group in Arts, Body and Education”.

Djefri Ramon Pereira

Djefri Ramon Pereira BA in Theatre. Dance undergraduate student. Dance teacher.

Aline Nogueira Haas

Aline Nogueira Haas Associate Professor in Dance at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, in the Department of Physical Education, Physiotherapy and Dance. Dance and Pilates practitioner/researcher and educator. Member of Research Committee at International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS). Leader of the “Research Group in Arts, Body and Education”