Pamela Quinn

Moving Forward with Music

Interactive Class Instructor

Pamela Quinn danced professionally for 20 years with ODC/San Francisco and with actor/writer Michael O’Connor before she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at the age of 42. Since that time she has used her extensive movement background, along with her personal experience of the disease, to investigate and create movement therapy for people with Parkinson’s. Her innovative approach has gained growing recognition and made her a sought after individual therapist and adviser for PD groups. She was the subject of a profile on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and was also featured in a piece on WABC in New York. Dance Magazine asked her to write a feature article on her experience as a dancer who developed a life-altering movement disorder. In addition to her private practice and work as a consultant, she currently teaches a class for people with Parkinson’s called Pam Quinn’s PD Movement Lab, sponsored by the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. In 2010 she was asked to moderate a panel on “How to take charge of your Parkinson’s” and to teach a class at the Second World Parkinson Congress. Her video, Welcome to our World , was also co-winner of their first prize, in addition to receiving a Dance Media award as video of the month. She has spoken at many support groups, and she is a graduate of PDF’s Clinical Research Learning Institute and the Applied Teacher Training program. Most recently she served as a consultant to Christopher Walken in the film, “A Late Quartet.” She lives in New York City with her husband and two children. For more information, please visit www.pamelaquinn.net.

Moving Forward with Music

PARKINSON’S SESSION: This class will address physical issues particular to Parkinson’s – stiffness, balance, posture, freezing. stride length, etc. – through the use of music and dance. We will begin warming the body up in chairs, then proceed to standing and moving through space. The class will provide you with practical coping strategies and will encourage you to move in a joyful and therapeutic way.

DYSTONIA SESSION: This class will emphasize different kinds of ways to release the body, both through the muscles and joints. We will work on expansive movement combined with a loose physicality and total body coordination. An initial warm up will be done in chairs to a wide selection of music; standing and moving together will follow, transferring the released physicality from the chair to travelling through space.