Dance for PD®

The School of Dance at George Mason University offers FREE Dance for Parkinson’s Disease (Dance for PD®) classes on our Fairfax campus.

Classes are free and open to the public, but registration is required.
David Leventhal and Lucy Bowen McCauley from Dance for PD
Dance for PD® Program Director and Founding Teacher David Leventhal, and Lucy Bowen McCauley, certified Dance for PD® teaching artist

Dance for PD® Professional Development Day

April 12, 2024, 1:00-2:30 p.m.

The Mason School of Dance welcomes Dance for PD® Program Director and Founding Teacher David Leventhal, and Lucy Bowen McCauley, certified Dance for PD® teaching artist, to our studios on April 12, during the regularly scheduled class listed below. David and Lucy will co-teach the class with adjunct faculty member Elizabeth Spatz. Participants will also have the opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences with local teaching artists and engage with other members of the Dance for PD® community. Members of the community who are living with Parkinson's, as well as their caregivers and partners, are welcome to attend. More information and registration details can be found below.


Classes take place on Fridays from 1:00pm-2:15pm in deLaski Performing Arts Building 3009 each Spring and Fall. Here are the Spring 2024 dates:

  • Feb 9
  • Feb 16
  • Feb 23
  • March 1
  • NO CLASS - March 8 (Spring Break)
  • March 15
  • March 22
  • March 29
  • April 5
  • April 12 - Dance for PD® Professional Development Day (see information above)
  • April 19

Please contact Elizabeth Spatz to find out more and to register.

Dance for PD® is a movement-based class that begins slowly with warm-up movements and progresses to combinations of movements to a variety of uplifting music. The class offers not only physical benefits, but also reduces the dancers’ social isolation which is commonly associated with this neurological disease.

Dance for Parkinsons® class from Fall 2022
Dance for Parkinsons® class from Fall 2022.
Please consider helping the success of the program by giving today.

About Dance for PD®

Dance for PD® offers internationally-acclaimed, research-backed dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease online, in New York City, and through a network of partners and associates in more than 300 other communities in 25 countries. In Dance for PD® classes, participants are empowered to explore movement and music in ways that are refreshing, enjoyable, stimulating and creative. Dance for PD® provides comprehensive teacher training and certification, creates innovative instructional media, and nurtures relationships among other organizations so that classes based on our model are widely available. Evidence from more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific studies serves to underpin the effectiveness and benefits of the Dance for PD teaching approach. The program has been featured in such media channels as The New York Times, USA Today, NBC, CNN, NPR, and The Guardian and has received multiple awards for its groundbreaking work.`

Dance for Parkinsons® class from Fall 2022
Standing at the barre during a Dance for Parkinsons® class from Fall 2022.