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Conscious Dance is something I think is extremely important in the transformation of a mind, particularly for those with Alzheimer’s or at-risk of Alzheimer’s. According to Mark Metz, a thought leader in the community, Conscious Dance is essentially “a non-competitive, body based way of raising consciousness.”

Our guests today are the co-founders of Open Floor Dance.

In this Episode You Will Learn:

Kathy Altman – is a co founder of Open Floor International, an organization that promotes conscious dance as a form of well being, community building, peace making and creativity. She has danced her whole life but moving without choreography imposed from the outside is the skill she relies on most. Kathy has taught dance to thousands of people on many continents for over 40 years.

Lori Saltzman – is a co-founder of Open Floor. Lori stumbled into her first movement workshop with Gabrielle Roth when she was 26 years old. She spent 30 years as Gabrielle’s friend, student and close collaborator. The same vital force that wed her to movement led her to meditation, writing and creativity. Five years ago she co-founded Open Floor International, an collaboration of seasoned movement teachers, artists, therapists, and educators who are translating their wisdom to the dance floor.

The 2 primary values of Open Floor Dance:

1. help people move from fixed to fluid movements, extending this into consciousness.
2. “move and include” – when we move, things come up. feelings come up and they can be included and processed in the dance to further our evolution as human beings.

In Open Floor we dance to learn rather than learning to dance. It is free-form dance and movement in a safe space. There aren’t intentional, structured partners or choreographed dance steps. Often people use this as a practice and community through which they experience many of the common ups and downs. These groups are for young and “old” and are non-exclusionary. All levels of physical ability from professional dancers to dancers/movers in a wheelchair.

Our guests cite some research for dance lowering the risk for cognitive impairment and dementia.
They also talk about how they are able to push their movement limitations and how the body adapts to continuous activity as they age.

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