October 2026 Edition: Entering a New Chapter, Together
In this month’s DanceStream Projects newsletter, we reflect on entering a new chapter together—from the joy and community of our first-ever gala, Many Stories, One Dance, to reflections from the United Nations’ International Day of Older Persons and a new conversation about the social brain with Dr. Virginia Sturm.
We also share stories from UnRavelled, upcoming Raising Our Voices events across NYC, opportunities to dance and connect this fall, and a look at what’s ahead as we continue building a future rooted in creativity, connection, dignity, belonging, and possibility.
UnRavelled: Bringing Creativity, Connection, and Hope into Community
DanceStream Projects joined the UnRavelled team in Philadelphia and New York to bring the play’s powerful themes of creativity, connection and hope into community.
From workshops with people living with dementia and UPenn’s WriteMinds students to conversations, art-making and post-show dialogue across New York City, the collaboration explored the connections between music, dance, poetry, brain health and care.
Reimagining Dementia Care: A Conversation with Daniel Brown of Simon Care
Explore DanceStream’s conversation with Daniel Brown, CEO and founder of Simon Care, about reimagining dementia care through technology, education, community, and the arts.
Together, we explore how digital innovation and creative, movement-based approaches can support autonomy, connection, participation, and brain health—and what becomes possible when we build new models of care around what people living with dementia actually need.
Many Stories, One Dance: Celebrating Community, Creativity and the Future of DanceStream Projects
On October 1, DanceStream Projects gathered our community at Flushing Town Hall for our first-ever gala—a joyful evening of movement, storytelling, gratitude, and connection. From our opening Hello Body Dance to a room full of people dancing together, the evening was a beautiful reflection of what DanceStream is all about: creating spaces where people can connect, discover possibility, and become part of the dance.
Read more about this special evening and the people who make our movement possible.
Dancing into Brain Health (S2 Ep10): Illuminating the Social Brain
In this conversation, we explore what the social brain is and why it matters for all of us. We discuss how emotions arise in the brain, why empathy is both deeply personal and profoundly biological, how emotional experiences can shift in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia, and what these changes can teach us about being human.
Dancing into Brain Health (S2 Ep9): Stewarding Global Brain Health Leaders
Dementia is one of the defining public health challenges of our time. As Site Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Victor Valcour is helping cultivate a global network of leaders united by shared values and a common purpose of reducing the scale and impact of dementia worldwide.
In this thoughtful conversation, we explore who should be at the table to address global brain health equity, the steps to translate a vision into action and the role of humility in cultivating multi-disciplinary leaders.
Growing Our Capacity, Together
We are delighted to share that DanceStream Projects has been selected as one of just 36 nonprofit arts organizations across New York State to participate in the 2026 NYSCA/NYFA Community Arts Leaders Program, administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts with funding support from the New York State Council on the Arts.
Shining a Light on Brain Health, Dancing into Fall Together
A joyful day of movement, connection, and brain health! DanceStream Projects was honored to join the First Presbyterian Church Fall Festival alongside our friends at Jamaica Older Adult Center and Queens Community House.
Many Stories, One Dance — Join Us in Celebrating Our First Gala!
On October 1, we’ll gather at Flushing Town Hall for Many Stories, One Dance—DanceStream Projects’ very first gala! It will be an evening of dance, stories, community, creativity, and brain health, celebrating the people who make this work possible and looking ahead to all that we can create together.
September 2026 Edition: A Season of Connection, Possibility & Growth
This September, as we mark World Alzheimer’s Month, we have been reflecting on what becomes possible when we look beyond a diagnosis and make space for the whole person—with all their creativity, stories, relationships, and agency. At DanceStream Projects, this question continues to shape our work and remind us that joy, connection, curiosity, and belonging are essential to healthy aging.
It has also been a month of meaningful growth for DanceStream—from being selected as one of 36 organizations across New York State for the 2026 NYSCA/NYFA Community Arts Leaders Program, to mentoring arts and health leaders from around the world, celebrating with our local communities, and preparing for our first gala, Many Stories, One Dance, on October 1.
In this month’s letter, we share some reflections on the people, partnerships, and possibilities that continue to move this work forward.
Where Movement Meets Language: New Research on Dance, Parkinson’s Disease & Speech
What if the benefits of dance extend beyond how we move our bodies—and into how we use our voices?
New research co-coordinated by Dr. Constantina Theofanopoulou and Dr. Aline Nogueira Haas, and led by Raquel Arigony C. S. Prates and colleagues, offers exciting new evidence exploring this question in people living with Parkinson’s disease.
Growing Our Community - Moving Together for Brain Health
What does brain health feel like?
At recent Brain Health Dance Socials with Sunnyside Community Services and Sunset Park Older Adult Center, DanceStream Projects and the NYU Langone Alzheimer's Disease Research Center invited community members to explore that question through shared movement.
August 2026 Edition: Where Stories Meet Movement
In this issue, we explore the powerful connections between movement, language, and communication—from the poetry and dance emerging through our Raising Our Voices project to new research on dance, speech, and neurodegenerative disease.
We also celebrate the growing DanceStream Projects community and the many ways movement can create new pathways for connection, expression, and belonging.
Dancing into Brain Health (S2 Ep8): Exposing Dementia through the Arts
In this episode of the Dancing into Brain Health podcast, we are joined by award-winning filmmaker, best-selling author, Certified Dementia Practitioner, and founder of Expose Dementia, Chuck Nathaniel Brown. Following his own family's experience with dementia, Chuck has dedicated his career to using film, literature, community engagement, and the arts to transform how we understand dementia—particularly within African American communities.
Together, we explore the extraordinary role that the arts can play in increasing awareness, fostering dialogue, challenging stigma, and creating spaces where communities can learn, heal, and advocate together.
July 2026 Edition: A New Chapter Begins ⭐
July has been a month of celebration and exciting new beginnings for DanceStream Projects.
We're thrilled to share that DanceStream Projects is now an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—a milestone made possible by our incredible community of participants, teaching artists, partners, volunteers, board members, and supporters. As we also celebrated World Brain Day and this year's theme, Access for All, we were reminded that brain health grows wherever people come together to move, create, connect, and belong.
In this month's newsletter, you'll find updates on our new Raising Our Voices project, the latest Dancing into Brain Health podcast episode with neuroscientist Dr. Rona Graham, World Brain Day resources, and our August calendar of free programs.
Dancing into Brain Health (S2 Ep7): Our senses in motion
In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Rona Graham, a neuroscientist whose research explores olfactory function as an early biomarker for cognitive impairment.
Together, we unpack how this often-overlooked sensory process is intimately tied not only to the richness of our daily lives, but also to cognition, memory, and overall brain health.
June 2026 Edition: Summer is for Dancing!
Summer is here, and so is our latest newsletter!
Join us as we celebrate Pride Month and Alzheimer's & Brain Awareness Month while exploring how dance can foster brain health, belonging, creativity, and connection—from New York City to Poland and beyond.
Dancing into Brain Health (S2 Ep6): Dancing into Communication
In this episode of Dancing into Brain Health, we explore the fascinating intersection of dance, neuroscience, and communication with dancer and neuroscientist Dr. Constantina Theofanopoulou. Her groundbreaking research investigates the neural substrates of speech and the ways movement — particularly dance — may support, strengthen, and even rehabilitate our ability to communicate.
Together, we uncover how rhythm and movement may activate some of the brain’s deepest communication networks, opening new possibilities for understanding speech, connection, and the profound relationship between the moving body and the speaking mind.
May 2026 Edition: “It’s A Blessing To Me.”
In this month’s newsletter, we celebrate two important commemorations, Older Americans Month and Mental Health Awareness Month.
We invite you to reflect with us on what it means to care for our health not only physically, but emotionally, socially, and creatively. And what role and responsibility we play in holding spaces that sustain the bonds, experiences and opportunities that nurture these types of meaningful relationships.
Dancing into Brain Health - Special Issue: Mental Health Awareness Month
In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month 2026, DanceStream Projects executive director Magda Kaczmarska sat down with Mark Timmons, artist, advocate and person living with dementia, for a conversation about the intersections of mental health and brain health.