South San Francisco, CA July 26, 2019 Submitted by Matt Skryja,Kaiser Permanente 
Unique Class Helps Patients Through Movement – Featured During Ballet Performance
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 26, 2019 – This Sunday, the San Francisco Ballet performance at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco will feature a unique dance showcase during its second intermission. Kaiser Permanente doctors Dr. Meaghan Lynch and Dr. Rima Ash will help lead Parkinson’s patients in a special therapeutic dance demonstration on the main stage.
“Certain types of exercise and certain types of dance slow the progression of Parkinson’s symptoms,” said Dr. Lynch, a Kaiser Permanente physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and former ballet dancer. “Ballet — with its musicality, broad expansive movements, and poise — really lends itself to helping balance, gait stability, and mobility in these individuals.”
Those performing attend free dance classes held at the San Francisco Ballet School (SFBS), thanks to a sponsorship by Kaiser Permanente. The regularly held class is entitled Parkinson’s Disease: Movement, Balance and Awareness Through Dance. This Sunday’s performance is a special opportunity to see how dance can help keep patients active.
Dr. Lynch and Dr. Ash, a movement disorder neurologist, collaborated on the class structure with Cecelia Beam, a longtime San Francisco Ballet employee and dance instructor. Beam modelled the class after those developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and Brooklyn Parkinson Group, and brought in her own love of folkloric dance.
Parkinson’s Disease affects the nerve cells in the brain that produce dopamine. Symptoms include changes in speech and gait, fatigue, and balance issues as well as muscle rigidity and tremors. Approximately half a million Americans have the disease. There is no cure, but treatments can help relieve symptoms. That’s why the special dance classes are so important.
Kaiser Permanente Parkinson’s Dance Class Showcase
Where: Stern Grove Festival,19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco
When: Second Intermission, during the 2 p.m. San Francisco Ballet performance, 7-28-19
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.3 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information go to https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/.