Welcome to Our Newsletter!

Dear reader,

It is my absolute delight to welcome you to DanceStream Projects ’ inaugural newsletter.

DanceStream Projects’ mission is to spark brain health and build creative communities through the power of dance and movement. We center our programs in allyship with people living with dementia and their care partners, while investing in communities that nurture brain health among older persons.

What began in 2019 as a series of individual projects, has blossomed into a sustained engagement touching hundreds of older adults and people living with dementia around the United States and abroad.

As we grow our participatory programs, we are taking a moment to honor all of you - our champions - who have followed and supported us at every step of the way!

Our newsletter spotlights DanceStream Projects’ transformative programs and the team members who bring them life. We celebrate our partners, the cornerstone and driving force behind all we do. You will see the ways our initiatives foster brain health and nurture a sense of belonging. Each story underscores the evidence-based approach that grounds our mission and work.

In this month’s edition, we highlight two recent events: the United Nations International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) and World Alzheimer's Day. UNIDOP’s 2024 theme focused on aging with dignity, a principle that resonates deeply with our work. Meanwhile, Alzheimer's Disease International released sobering statistics: a staggering 88% of people living with dementia experience discrimination.

The numbers are a stark reminder of the work ahead. At DanceStream Projects, we lean into this need, recognizing what the role dance, as an arts and health approach, plays in cultivating narrative shifts and changing attitudes. Through our programs, we strive to empower every individual we reach and restore and strengthen their sense of dignity.

Read on and join us in the movement for brain health!

With gratitude,

Magda

Latest Research on Global Attitudes Toward Dementia

Each year on September 21, Alzheimer's Disease International publishes a World Alzheimer’s Report on key issues regarding the state of dementia care and policy globally. This year, the report emphasized attitudes toward dementia around the world. The results are concerning.

• 65% of health and care professionals incorrectly believe dementia is a normal part of aging.
• 80% of the general public believe dementia is a normal part of aging.
• Of the 7 million people living with Alzheimer’s Disease in the US, only 8-17% qualify for trials of current disease-modifying treatments—not accounting for other forms of dementia such as Lewy body, frontotemporal and vascular.

There is much that still needs to be done to address attitudes and raise awareness to ensure the human rights of people living with dementia.

At DanceStream Projects, our programs directly influence attitudes toward dementia. Here is what one participant, who had recently received their diagnosis, shared:

“I came in heavy, weighted down, with the diagnosis. I'm in a far better place than I was when I first started. The condition hasn't lightened, but our attitude towards it has lightened."

Sources and Further Reading:

• World Alzheimer’s Report 2024 - Alzheimer’s Disease International
• Pittock et al. Eligibility for Anti-Amyloid Treatment in a Population-Based Study of Cognitive Aging. Neurology. 2023 Nov 7;101(19):e1837-e1849.
• Stories in the Moment - join or sponsor this dance program for people living with dementia in your community

Celebrating Changing Attitudes Toward Aging and Dementia

DanceStream Projects has had the honor of collaborating with the Queens Center for Gay Seniors since November 2022, to offer a weekly dance and storytelling program, Rainbow Stories in the Moment, bringing together LGBTQIA+ elders and allies through dance and storytelling.

These remarkable dancers debuted their first co-created dance as part of The Creative Age global performance hosted by Re-Live Theatre, commemorating the UN International Day of Older Persons on October 1 this year.

Rainbow Stories participants shared their reflections on how connecting through dance supports their own attitudes toward brain health and aging in this feature from DIVA Magazine . Stay tuned, as we will be sharing video of the event soon!

From Our Participants

“We are not our dementia. We are not defined by our dementia. Even though I have dementia, I can learn something new. I can learn dance.”

- Mark Timmons, DAA Board Member, Poet, Person living with dementia

IN THE MOMENT - ?Commemorating the 34th United Nations International Day of Older Persons

Since 1990, the United Nations General Assembly has commemorated the International Day of Older Persons, recognizing the need for this day to advocate for the human rights of older persons around the world.

This year, the commemoration was held at the UN headquarters in New York on October 7th with the theme "Aging with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide" United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

This theme is particularly relevant to us at DanceStream Projects, where we serve as allies to people living with dementia and care partners around the globe.

Our Executive Director, Magda Kaczmarska, who is also an executive committee member of the NGO Committee on Aging, brought together an intergenerational team of twenty-four?volunteers to help with the smooth delivery of this important event.

Watch the recording of the event on the UN DESA webpage

Staff Highlight: Meet Maura!

My name is Maura McDonagh and I am a PhD candidate in molecular neuroscience in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am working in the lab of Dr. Sergio Baranzini at the University of California San Francisco, studying the role of the gut-brain axis in multiple sclerosis. I was drawn to DanceStream Projects by the incredible work Magda does in connecting with individuals and building stories and belonging through movement and dance.

I joined DanceStream Projects as research coordinator for the Stories in the Moment Pilot Dance Research Study . Through this project, I have been able to balance my research experience with my passion for arts and health approaches to empower people living with dementia.

Outside of my work in the research lab and with DanceStream Projects, I’m a proud tía (aunt) to my sister's three kiddos, an avid rock climber, and aspiring yogi.

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DanceStream Projects: Improving Brain Health Through Dance

DanceStream Projects sparks brain health and builds creative communities through dance and movement. DanceStream Projects aims to shift narratives of aging and dementia from one-note narratives of loss to ones of complexity, growth, and hope, while inspiring awareness, agency, and access to brain health.

DanceStream Projects is a fiscally-sponsored project of New York Live Arts, a 501(c)3 umbrella organization.

DONATE TODAY to bring the healing power of dance to more communities of people living with dementia and older persons around the country and the globe!

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