Meet DanceStream Projects

Magda Kaczmarska, Founder

DanceStream Projects brings together artists, researchers, and communities as active collaborators in creative and educational projects that build spaces of belonging and amplify collective stories. We work together to build new systems and structures that maximize our agency and  fortify our collective wellbeing.

Inspired by the concept of upstreaming* health, DanceStream Projects provides direct allyship and empowerment to communities bridging the arts and health. We believe that dance is a universal language and that the arts, and specifically dance, are an integral part of the healthcare ecosystem. By engaging in co-creative arts practices, we are expanding our capacity and agency for promoting our individual and community health. By engaging in the arts, we are putting our brain health into our hands and our bodies.

* Upstreaming health is a concept which recognizes that the root causes of ill-health are systemic and especially within the western model of medicine propagate a culture of crisis. Upstreaming health addresses supporting individuals and communities through a focus on prevention and empowerment. Upstreaming places health outside of the river – catching people before they fall in, invoking cooperation and interdependence in the larger healthcare ecosystem of housing, nutrition, green spaces, urban and rural design, legal assistance, immigration, education and social engagement.

Our Team

  • MAGDA KACZMARSKA, MFA (she/they) is a dance artist, researcher, Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health and a fierce advocate for dance as a catalyst for brain health. Magda received an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography and a BS in Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics from the University of Arizona. Magda founded DanceStream Projects, a non-profit arts and health organization based in New York City, dedicated to supporting brain health through dance and creativity. Through DanceStream Projects, Magda created several award-winning programs which apply evidence-informed approaches to extend brain health to older adults and people living with dementia through co-creative dance. 

    Magda mentors future leaders in the creative and health sector through a regular partnership with the Global Arts in Medicine Fellowship in Lagos, Nigeria and speaks regularly in international multi-disciplinary spaces on the role of dance in facilitating healthy aging habits and promoting agency and brain health among older persons and people living with dementia. Recent publications and features include Creative Brain Week, the WHO Collaboration Centre, Frontiers of Neurology,  Being Patient, ABC7NY news and the Alzheimer’s Disease International World Alzheimer Report 2023. Current research includes an observational study of an online dance program for people living with dementia and an ongoing collaboration with UCSF Memory and Aging Center Creative Minds program to explore the role of the arts in promoting brain healthy habits among older adults while increasing participation and inclusion in neuroscience and dementia prevention research.

    Magda is passionate in advocating for the rights of older persons and people living with dementia and serves as a representative to the UN with Generations United, is on the executive committee of the UN NGO Committee on Ageing New York, is a board member of the Dementia Action Alliance and the Vice President of the Foundation Dementia Action Alliance Poland.

  • KATE MAROTTA (she/her) is a dance artist who is just finishing her degree at Dean College, earning a BA in Dance and Biology. She has always been drawn to combining dance and the health sciences. Whether through her own choreography, collaborative creative work, or research-based projects. She is particularly interested in how movement can support storytelling, wellbeing, and meaningful human connection.

    Meeting Magda and Hilary at the National Dance Education Organization conference October 2025, she was immediately inspired by the work they do, connecting individuals and building stories through dance. Learning about DanceStream Projects affirmed her desire to work in community-based dance settings that value inclusivity, curiosity, and lived experience. She has been teaching dance to young adults for the past 6 years and is excited about the opportunity to join Dance Stream Projects as a Teaching Artist and to contribute her interdisciplinary background, creativity, and enthusiasm for working with diverse communities to help foster connection through movement.

  • JENNA WURTZBERGER (she/her) (MFA, BFA, BA) is a highly accomplished dance educator, choreographer, adjudicator, and movement specialist with over 20 years of experience in the performing arts and wellness industries. She holds an MFA in Dance from Temple University, along with dual degrees in Dance and Psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

    Jenna has taught at Temple University, UNLV, Cottey College, and Missouri Valley College, specializing in ballet, jazz, choreography, improvisation, dance history, and dance for camera. Additionally, she has served as a Teaching Artist with the Philadelphia Ballet and Kansas City Ballet, effectively blending arts education with community engagement. Her award-winning choreography has been showcased nationally and internationally in concert, competition, and theater settings. As a performer, Jenna has shared her passion for dance across the United States, Germany, South Korea, and the Caribbean, presenting works by prominent modern and contemporary choreographers.

    She is a trained Dance for Parkinson's teacher, with additional credentials in senior fitness, yoga, and brain health. Currently, Jenna collaborates with organizations such as DanceStream Projects, OptumCare, and various retirement communities in Las Vegas to provide inclusive and adaptive dance and movement experiences for older adults, including those living with Parkinson's disease and dementia.

  • HILARY BROWN-ISTREFI (she/her) is a Canadian-American choreographer and teaching artist based in Rockaway Beach, NY. Brown-Istrefi is the co-founder and director of Same As Sister (S.A.S.), a bi-national performance collective celebrating 12 years of collaborative and interdisciplinary storytelling. S.A.S.’s performance and film commissions have been presented and screened internationally at The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance (Toronto); Base: Experimental Arts + Space (Seattle); Video Art Miden (Greece); Centre d’Art Marnay Art Centre (France); Coffey Street Studio, Danspace Project, BRIC, and New York Live Arts (NYC), among other venues. Awards, recognition, and funding include New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts’ 2019 Artist Fellow; 2021-22 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow Finalist and Alternate; 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominee for Outstanding Production (This is NOT a Remount); Foundation for Contemporary Arts’ Emergency Grantee (2025, 2022 and 2017); and Queens Arts Fund’s 2020 New Work Grantee. Through ongoing/recent partnerships with DanceStream Projects (NYC); Ontario College of Art & Design University, Dancemakers, and Workman Arts at CAMH: The Center for Mental Health & Addiction (Toronto), Brown-Istrefi’s current dance practices have expanded to explore the intersections between embodied storytelling, world-building, creative aging, and mental health.

  • FERNANDA GARDUZA (she/her) is a ballet teacher and dancer from Guadalajara, Mexico, currently based in Brooklyn, NY. She has experience teaching a wide range of ages, from young children to adults and seniors, and currently teaches at several dance studios in Brooklyn and New Jersey. As an educator and artist, she continues to grow her teaching practice, performs, and stays actively engaged in the dance community.

    She is excited about the opportunity to join DanceStream Projects as a Teaching Artist. She is drawn to this work because she believes dance can create connection and community, support well-being, and help people feel seen and included.

    Fernanda is an ABT® Certified Teacher, having completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

    Outside of teaching, she enjoys traveling with her family, spending time with her dog Maxi, and staying connected to movement as part of everyday life.

  • JAMIE ROBINSON (he/him) is a dancer and teacher based in NYC. He was invited to join DanceStream projects in 2023, and instantly loved the joyful community that Magda fosters in each class. One fun fact about him is that he shares a birthday with two US presidents and his Aunt.

  • MAURA MCDONAGH (they/she) is a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley - Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute pursuing a designated emphasis in Computational Biology. Working in the lab of Dr. Sergio Baranzini at the University of California, San Francisco studying the role of the gut-brain axis in multiple sclerosis. Maura earned a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering with a double major in Communication Arts (Radio/TV/Film) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Maura is passionate about brain health across the lifespan and justice in secondary and higher education.

    Maura has been a part of the Stories in the Moment Dance Research Study serving as the Program Coordinator. They enjoy working with families of people living with dementia and learning how the creative self can be unlocked through movement.

  • SUSANA SANHUEZA (she/her) is designer and digital marketing expert based in Santiago, Chile. She is the founder of Studio Alapar, where she specializes in Digital Consulting, Digital Marketing and Brand Identity. She brings over 10 years of experience managing the content and design of social networks, customization of media plans, web design and email marketing with different CRMs.

    Susi was introduced to DanceStream Projects by a collaborating artist and Global Atlantic Fellow Macarena Espina-Diaz. She fell in love with the work DanceStream Projects are doing in raising awareness about the role of the arts in health aging and supporting people living with dementia and older persons through collaborative dance.

    Susi joined the DanceStream Projects in 2024 and has since helped design and curate the social communication and development for the company in alignment with our mission, vision and values.
    Outside of work Susi likes to watch anime or k-dramas, go for a walk with her husband and her dog, listen to music, play soccer, play board games with her friends and try food from all over the world while traveling to see other places and cultures.

Our Partners