Professor Sara Houston is one of the world's pioneers researching dance for people living with Parkinson's. Her initial research was with English National Ballet's Dance for Parkinson's programme, in the UK. Sara has worked with Dance Well as part of its teacher training course, as well as giving public facing talks, and currently is working with Dance Well Hong Kong as a research consultant. She is in demand as a public speaker and expert advisor for Parkinson's dance initiatives globally. Sara is based at the University of Roehampton, London UK.

Dancing with Parkinson's is the only book published on dance for Parkinson's research. It explores the experience and value of dancing for people living with the neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson’s disease. Linking aesthetic values to wellbeing, Sara Houston articulates the importance of the dancing experience for those with Parkinson’s, and argues that the benefits of participatory dance are best understood through the experiences, lives, needs and challenges of people living with Parkinson’s who have chosen to dance. 
Presenting personal narratives from a study that investigates the experience of people with Parkinson’s who dance, intertwined with the social contexts in which the dancers live, this volume examines the personal issues as well as the attitudes and identities that shape people’s relationship to dance. Taking this primary research as a starting point, Dancing with Parkinson’s builds an argument for how dance becomes a way of helping people live well with Parkinson’s.

The book was launched in Bassano del Grappa in 2019 and has become a key text for dance artists working or training to become dance for Parkinson's teachers, as well as for community arts scholars.

Click here for the link to buy the book (available also through Amazon).