Jockey Club Dance Well Project is a creative movement programme designed to include those with Parkinson's disease and people of different ages and abilities through regular dance classes and activities in artistic spaces.
Initiated by the School of Dance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, we believe dance can make meaningful contributions to society, life, and the human condition. This three-year project is funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and is modelled after the Dance Well initiative introduced by the Municipality of Bassano del Grappa, Italy and the Centro per la Scena Contemporanea in 2013. The practice has since been extended to other Italian cities and adopted by Tokyo, Kyoto and Kanazawa cities in Japan. We introduce this approach to Hong Kong and invite local dance artists for collaborations to bring an inclusive dance experience to the Hong Kong public.
The World Health Organisation Report in 2019 included the Dance Well approach to promote psycho-physical well-being, complemented with conventional rehabilitation to creatively address the symptom-specific concerns of people with Parkinson’s disease.
We believe that everyone is an inborn dancer who can find much happiness and hopes in freely moving our bodies.
Dance Well is an artistic practice. We highlight the creative dimensions such as self-awareness, self-discovery, creative expression and co-creation – all about exploring our body and soul. It also features rehabilitation strategies including aerobic exercise, motor imagination, cueing techniques, proprioceptive and sensory-motor training, through dance. The dance classes, taking place in artistic spaces, also engage the participants in an inspiring and inclusive environment, which makes Dance Well so different from conventional practices for people with Parkinson’s in gyms or medical settings.
People who join the Dance Well classes may benefit from various aspects: improve the sense of rhythm, balance and movement; find new forms of creative expression and aspirations; feel empowered; enjoy a better quality of life; open up interpersonal relationships in combating the isolation that often accompanies Parkinson's disease.
The project, not only brings about cross-sector partnership among arts, social welfare and health sectors, but also aims at creating a local inclusive dance and movement model for Parkinson’s disease for sustainability and recognition of its importance in Hong Kong and beyond.
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An international advisory committee is made up of overseas and local members of accomplished and respectable practitioners in dance education, research, healthcare and community domains, providing useful guidance and expertise suggestions on project development & quality assurance, train-the-trainer programme and impact study research.
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Our sincere thanks to the below organisations for their contributions and participations in our project.
Funded by
Collaborating Partners
Supporting Organisations
