At the not for profit Art as Action, they focus on more than just the art itself.
“Art as Action started in 2002,” said founder and artistic director Sarah Leversee. “We were dancers and musicians and poets. We wanted to make work and shows that had an impact and a point of view.”
Art as Action is a not for profit organization that uses many forms of art as expression and uses dance to help people with Parkinson’s.
Since Art as Action started, they have been putting on performances and constantly building their team of “artivists” as they use dance to help people with Parkinson's. A term they have created that is defined as “champions and ambassadors of the communal, universal and healing language of art.”
There are many different types of performers that volunteer their time to be a part of the shows. Some of the most notable are the dancers involved with Reconnect With Your Body, a part of Art as Action that provides two dance classes a week for people with and without Parkinson’s.
“If Art as Action is a heart, half of that heart is Reconnect and half of that heart is the performances,” said Leversee.
“The benefits of dancing for Parkinson’s is I don’t tremor during class,” said Reconnect dancer Margie Dahlin. “Everything just flows, it’s like magic.”
Over the past two years the classes have doubled in size and they have members who commute as much as 400 miles round trip. Every week the Reconnect dancers meet once in Broomfield and once in Arvada.
“If you have any creative impulse at all, this is a way to explore and to come together with other creative people,” said board member Leann Roberts.
You can get involved with Art as Action:
To find out more about Art as Action, click here.
To volunteer, click here
To find out more about Reconnect With Your Body, click here.