Access & Enrichment
Dance For Parkinson’s
American Repertory Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s program is for people with Parkinson’s Disease and their caregivers. Each class has live music and creates a warm sanctuary for movement exploration, and a social atmosphere to support artistic venture.
- Classes are infused with guided imagery, vocalization, and movement to provide participants with a dynamic experience.
- Participants are encouraged to ‘think like dancers’ and to be creative and expressive.
- Open to all levels of ability! Although participants may experience therapeutic relief, this class is not considered therapy, but a place where people come together to move, share, and enjoy the elements of dance.
Dates for our Fall 2023 Sessions
Middletown Arts Center
Class Time: Monday’s 4:15 – 5:30 PM
Rehearsal Time: 5:30 – 6:00 PM starting November 27th
Class Location: The Middletown Arts Center
36 Church St, Middletown Township, NJ 07748
Cost Options: All classes are offered free to participants and caregivers!
Lead Teacher: Rachel Stanislawczyk
Assistant Teacher: Lindsay Cahill
Musician: G.G. Glazer-Armstrong
Princeton Ballet School the Official School of American Repertory Ballet
Class Time: Thursday’s 11:15 – 12:30 PM (September 14th – May 30th)
Rehearsal Time: 12:00 -12:30 PM starting November 30th
Class Location: 301 N Harrison St., 2nd Floor, Princeton, NJ 08540
Cost Options: All classes are offered free to participants and caregivers!
Lead Teacher: Linda Mannheim
Assistant Teacher: Lindsay Cahill
Musician: Dottie Westgate
These classes are offered in partnership with Princeton University Concerts and its Healing with Music event on Sunday, March 3, 2024, exploring the intersection of music, dance, and Parkinson’s Disease. For more information and tickets, visit puc.princeton.edu. Please note that all class participants will receive a free ticket to the event on March 3.
ZOOM Classes
Class Time: Thursday’s 11:00 -12:00PM
Rehearsal Time: 12:00 -12:30 PM starting November 30th
Class Location: Zoom
Cost Options: All classes are offered free to participants and caregivers!
Lead Teacher: Michael Sazonov
Please email [email protected] for Zoom Link
Director of Dance for Parkinson’s and Lead Teacher, Middletown
Rachel Stanislawczyk
Rachel Stanislawczyk is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she earned her Ed.M in Dance Education with a K-12 teaching certification, and Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned her B.F.A in Dance and Choreography. Rachel is the Director and Founder of the Dance for Parkinson’s Program at American Repertory Ballet: a program for people diagnosed with PD and their caregivers. As Director, she has presented at The Parkinson’s Foundation’s Moving Day NJ, Dr. Jill M. Giordano Farmer’s PD Education Conference, The American Parkinson’s Disease Association’s Annual Spring Conference, and The Parkinson’s Alliance’s 5K Team Parkinson Run. In 2017, Rachel progressed from an intern to a lead teacher of the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) Dance for PD® program, where she taught classes at MMDG, New York University, and Ballet Academy East. Currently, Rachel is a full-time dance educator at Abraham Clark High School, and performs professionally with Rock Dance Collective.
Lead Teacher, Zoom
Michael Vitaly Sazonov
Michael Vitaly Sazonov is a bilingual performing artist, theatre maker, and teaching artist who utilizes movement, music, and words to create a space where we can be ourselves and find joy through new perspectives. Since 2014 Michael has worked with the Dance for PD® flagship program in Brooklyn, NY, through the Mark Morris Dance Group, where he continues to teach in both English and Spanish. Michael is also a member of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts’ Creative Aging Communities of Practice, and their Creative Aging Learning Laboratory (CALLab). Since 2018 Michael has created numerous expressive arts-based workshops and interventions based in dance, theatre, poetry, and improvisation for older adults and people living with Parkinson’s, Ataxia, and post-Stroke, both within community and university research settings.
As a first-generation American, Michael is an alum of the New York Foundation for the Arts’ Immigrant Artist Mentorship Program: Social Practice, where he deepened his dedication to creating multi-disciplinary, performance-based, documentary style theater with a social impact. A member of the Actors’ Equity Association since 2004, Michael has enjoyed working as a professional actor in New York City – from new works to off-Broadway – and regionally in his hometown of Washington, DC.
His love for teaching is shaped by his spirited and holistic approach to the power of the imagination and creative self-expression.