Ballet is a helpful step to coping with Parkinson’s disease

Scottish Ballet is to help expand Dance for Parkinson's classes to cities across the country
Scottish Ballet is to help expand Dance for Parkinson's classes to cities across the country
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JAMES GLOSSOP

Scottish Ballet is to help create a nationwide therapeutic dance programme for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Classes are already running at Dance Base in Edinburgh and Scottish Ballet in Glasgow and a £295,000 grant from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation will help the programme expand to Greenock, Kilmarnock, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness.

Research has shown that dance can help people with the degenerative disease physically, mentally and socially. Staff and volunteers help participants develop movement skills with particular emphasis on fluidity, balance, co-ordination and posture. The sessions include activities focused on problem solving, improvisation, vocal skills, memory and multi-tasking.

There are estimated to be 10,000 people with Parkinson’s in Scotland and the number is expected to increase over the next 25 years. Catherine Cassidy, the director