Authors

  1. YOUNG-MASON, JEANINE EdD, RN, CS, FAAN

Article Content

Pamela Quinn was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1996, interrupting her career as a professional dancer. Since that time, she has used her extensive movement background, along with her personal experience of the disease, to investigate and create movement therapy: strategies and exercises to combat the motor and perceptual symptoms of PD for people with Parkinson's disease. The duet was filmed in 2013. I urge readers to view "With Grace" on YouTube (With Grace. Choreography, text, and voiceover by Pamela Quinn. Produced by Erik Spink, Amitabh Rajjoshi, and Lauren Krause. Bach prelude in C major BWV846 played by Lori Henriques. The video was a finalist at the World Parkinson's Congress in Montreal in 2013. It can be viewed on YouTube.)

 

"I started off wanting to make a duet between a dancer (myself) and another figure who simultaneously suggested an angel, a care giver, a guide, a mate. After I made the dance, it seemed too abstract by itself. So I decided to add text, and the piece took on the feeling of a more singular relationship-a couple dealing with PD. But I hope echoes of the angel remain. Many of us who struggle with PD are the recipients of guidance and support that can sometimes seem divine, even when it is embodied in the earthly presences we know most closely. They are often the vehicles or enablers of grace, helping us to recognize the gifts which misfortune can bring and to reach for a spiritual poise that is the best part of ourselves."

 

Introduction to "With Grace" by Pamela Quinn