Postponed to spring 2015!

Please share with friends and family. This program is a pilot and most likely a first in Canada. The program is based on the ability of people living with dementia to connect physically through touch and music taking the role of the follower in a partnered dance. We will create a space to enjoy movement and partnership with a loved one or a person you care for. Please contact us for questions or registration. Thank you to Julia Zavalna  for her expert support of Tea & Tango as well as Happily Ever Active for mentorship and financial help.

The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, funded by the National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Their method for objectively measuring mental acuity in aging was to monitor rates of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity.  They discovered that some activities had a significant beneficial effect.  Other activities had none.

They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical instruments.  And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise and doing housework.

One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia.  There can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind.

There was one important exception:  the only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.

Follow this link or download the article as pdf file below: http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/smarter.htm

Come and join us for this new edition of  Tea & Tango where we learn the basics of the tango walk, both roles - leading and following regardless of gender - while sharing stories over a cup of tea with a new friend. We embrace learning in an intergenerational setting with a strong sense for connecting with each other and adapting to each other, just like when we dance the tango. The benefits of Argentine Tango: Improving gait, posture, balance and coordination while dancing with the music in a gentle embrace....it feels so good! The format will be 45 minutes class, followed by a tea break and open dance practice. 

Saturday's experimental workshop adapting Argentine Tango to a mixed group of wheelchair users and their dance partners was absolutely amazing. We had so much fun - laughter and music guided us to try the tango walk, rock-steps, ochos, ganchos, low boleos and dancing apart like Gustavo & Giselle Anne. Each dancing couple discovered different ways to lead and follow certain moves and shared it with the group so everyone could try it out. Can you imagine how many creative ways there are to adapt the tango to individual abilities? Thanks to all the inspiring participants & volunteers - you gals & guys rock. 
One more thing: Everyone would like to see wheelchair dancing in Halifax as well as in summer camps! Let's do it! Please get in touch with us - we would like to bring more dance on wheels to Halifax!

Jerry West, CBC Information Morning:
Read the article here.

If you are interested in offering a tea & tango program in your community or have any other questions about this program or setting up a dance program for health and outreach please contact us at 902-492-3903.

Julia Wong of Global News spent an afternoon at Tea & Tango:
"It helps to take your mind off the parkinson's" - seniors use tango as therapy. (Article)
And here is the video, evening news, Nov. 18th.
If you are interested in offering a tea & tango program in your community or have any other questions about this program or setting up a dance program for health and outreach please contact us at 902-492-3903.

We have collected a list of links that refer to articles, research papers and other interesting resources informing about the current understanding of Argentine Tango and dance in general in regards to health and well-being.

Argentine Tango  - scientific research, a selection. You can find more information in the reference section of each paper.

Links to news articles, blogs etc.

Dance appears to help Parkinson’s patients – now scientists aim to find out why - The Globe & Mail

Spotlight on Research: Teaching Tango for Parkinson's - Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF)

Tango therapy: The healing embrace.

Tango Therapy in Buenos Aires - Parkinson's

Tango for chronic pain relief - My tango diaries