“Creating oneness, Witnessing uniqueness”: Dance, dementia and belonging
Presented by Magda Kaczmarska
The Creative Wire
How the Field of Arts in Health is Rapidly Growing: Reflections from NOAHCON24
Feb 28, 2025 | by Lindsey Seung-Hee Choung
Edited by Cindy Ting-Yu Lu
Peabody has a much larger Arts in Health presence than I think many realize. Starting in 2015, Peabody and Johns Hopkins Medicine began to collaborate to create programs at the intersection of the arts and health. In fact, this is one of the reasons I initially decided to study at Peabody for my undergraduate degree in 2017. I still remember how miserable I had felt when I was recovering from pneumonia in the hospital as a child, and that experience made me interested in the impact music can bring to the hospital setting.
In March of 2019, I applied and was accepted into Peabody’s Sound Rounds, a program which brings musicians to patients’ bedsides. However, shortly after, COVID-19 hit, and the program was put on hiatus. Though bedside music services were put on hold, Music for a While, a partner program that brings music to public spaces in the hospital was able to adapt to a virtual format. From the fall of 2019 to spring of 2022, I performed virtual musical programs for patients and staff, and then later was able to play in person. Currently, I am part of the Music for a While program, as well as an Arts in Health intern where I help, and learn how to do arts administrative work.
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Read about Peabody’s Sound Rounds and the impacts of Arts in Health as a whole with NYT music critic Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim in this recent New York Times article from February, 2025.
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Due to my internship position, I was incredibly lucky to have been invited to attend NOAH Con, the National Organization of Arts in Health Conference from October 23-25, 2024, in Houston, Texas. With me was Lara Bruckmann, the Arts in Health Program Manager, and Dr. Sarah Hoover, the Associate Dean for Innovation in the Arts and Health. At this conference, I was able to learn about current research regarding the benefit of Arts in Health, as well as hear from many artists who are creating, leading, and running programs in this field.
NOAHCON involved artists from all fields, from dancers, to musicians, actors, poets, photographers, and more. Through attending this conference, I learned there are so many initiatives involving Arts in Health happening around the world that I didn’t know about. I found it very inspiring, and I’d like to highlight a few of the initiatives and programs that I was able to hear about at the conference in hopes of inspiring others.
Magda Kaczmarska is a dancer who leads and develops dance-based programs, some for communities of people living with dementia. In her presentation, Kaczmarska showed that over seven million people in the US currently live with dementia, and the numbers are still growing. Her program, DanceStream Projects “spark(s) brain health and build(s) creative community through dance and movement”. Dance has been proven to support memory, boost mood, and increase coordination and agility. Furthermore, the choreographic component of dancing increases recall ability and the use of mirroring others while dancing increases empathy. Kaczmarska emphasizes a philosophy of “retaining dignity” and helping participants tell their stories and communicate with others despite potentially having limited verbal ability.
“Elevating Mood”: Group Keyboard Music Making
Presented by Todd Van Kekerix
Todd Van Kekerix is an Assistant Professor of Piano & Piano Pedagogy at the University of Houston. In his session, he presented a demonstration of group keyboard sessions he does with nurses to help elevate mood and decrease stress. I volunteered to be part of the demonstration, and indeed, though what I was playing was at an elementary keyboard skill level, I did feel more relaxed after the demonstration was over. The first part of the session involved us wearing headphones and playing along to Professor Kekerix’s melody and the second had us with the headphones off so we could all hear each other. We were each given slightly different notes and rhythms and, with Kekerix’s more advanced part, performed together as a keyboard ensemble. The activity helped me focus on the task, making me forget external stressors, and created a feeling of community and harmony by hearing some beautiful music and creating it with others.
Purple Songs Can Fly
Presented by Anita Kruse
In 2006, Anita Kruse founded the Purple Songs Can Fly program. This program allows children at the Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Center to write and record their own songs. In 2011, the program created a portable recording studio to allow composers to work with the children at their bedside. They have also collaborated with Voice America Kids Network, the Houston Symphony, space shuttles and airlines, performed at Carnegie Hall, and more. Since then, over 3,000 original songs have been written and recorded with patients and siblings in the Purple Songs Can Fly studios.
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On the first day of the conference, Cassandra Belden presented a study that she took part in titled “Social prescribing outcomes: a mapping review of the evidence from 13 countries to identify key common outcomes.” The study pulled in data from around the world to synthesize research that has been done on social prescribing and the outcomes that have been identified. Social prescription is something I heard about for the first time at the conference. The definition of social prescription is connecting a person with non-medical health-related social needs to non-clinical support. An example of social prescription is the arts. These include music, dance, painting, film, literature, and other art forms. The data they collected showed that extensive research has been done on the effects arts have on mental health, lifestyle and behavior, patient/service user experience, relationships and social connections, physical health, and more. It’s amazing to see how seriously art is being taken in the care of physical, mental, and social health! Not only that, but it also shows that serious work is being done on the positive effects arts have on health. Arts in Health is an important field, and one that is continuing to rapidly grow.
NOAHCON was just a glimpse at all the programs and research surrounding Arts in Health. When talking to the other conference goers about how they all got into this field, I noticed something amazing. They all pinpointed a problem, or an unrepresented community, or a missing cog in the system, that inspired them to get involved. It could be something they loved and wanted to carry on to others, or a situation that frustrated or angered them. Although their pursuits differed, the one common thread was that they saw potential in what could be done through their art. To me, it’s awe-inspiring. There are so many possibilities that open up when we explore beyond traditional career paths for arts degrees. The conference showed me that there are infinite paths we can take.
Lindsey Seung-Hee Choung
Cello Performance
DMA
Lindsey Choung is a striving cellist, educator, and chamber musician. Alongside her doctoral performance studies and pedagogy cognate, she is an intern at Peabody's Music for a While program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which brings music to the hospital to contribute to the well-being and healing of patients, caretakers, and workers.