June 2026 Edition: Summer is for Dancing!
Dear friend,
Summer is in full swing, and we are delighted to celebrate both Pride Month and Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month with you.
As we reflect on brain health this June, it is important to recognize that LGBTQ+ communities face unique challenges. LGBTQ+ individuals are 29% more likely to report subjective cognitive decline (Flatt et al., 2021, Alzheimer’s & Dementia), while LGBTQ+ care partners of people living with dementia often encounter elevated stress, barriers to inclusive services, stigma, and discrimination—factors that can further complicate an already demanding caregiving journey (O’Hala et al., 2026, Research on Aging).
Despite representing an estimated 2.7 million older adults in the United States (Wharton et al., 2022, Alzheimer’s & Dementia), LGBTQ+ elders remain underrepresented in dementia research and, consequently, in the development of targeted prevention, treatment, and care interventions that address their unique experiences and needs.
To help address this gap, Dr. Flatt and colleagues established the RISE (Research Inclusion Supports Equity) Registry, a national initiative designed to increase LGBTQ+ representation in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias research. Building on this work, the team is now developing a clinical trial toolkit to support inclusive recruitment practices and advance LGBTQ+ research priorities in brain health, dementia prevention, and care. I am honored to serve on the advisory board of this project alongside dedicated advocates, researchers, and community leaders, and I am excited about the impact this work will have in the years ahead.
At DanceStream Projects, we are equally honored by our ongoing partnership with the Queens Center for Gay Seniors and by the opportunity to join them once again this year at the Queens Pride Parade. Through our Rainbow Stories in the Moment program, we have spent more than three years connecting with LGBTQ+ older adults and allies through dance and storytelling, inspiring creative projects that promote brain health while celebrating the wisdom, resilience, and experiences of this remarkable community.
This July, we are thrilled to launch a new initiative, Raising Our Voices. Through dance and poetry, participants will explore themes that matter most to them, culminating in a community dance event and a printed zine that reflects their individual and collective voices.
Excitingly, this project will expand beyond Jackson Heights, connecting not only with the Queens Center for Gay Seniors but also with four additional communities of older adults and people living with dementia across Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Programs begin in July, and you can learn more in this newsletter.
We also invite you to tune in to the latest episode of the Dancing into Brain Health podcast. Dancer and neuroscientist Dr. Constantina Theofanopoulou joins us for a fascinating conversation exploring the remarkable connections between speech, movement, and dance.
This month, we also reflect on the profound role of artists and cultural workers in cultivating spaces of meaning, belonging, purpose, and collective care for people living with dementia and their care partners. Read about a recent collaboration with Muzeum Śląskie in Katowice, Poland, where our Executive and Artistic Director had the privilege of serving as a mentor to cultural professionals from across the country. Together, we explored how museums and cultural institutions can build capacity and lay the foundations for a national movement toward dementia-inclusive cultural programming.
Finally, we are excited to share highlights from the Brooklyn Arts Council’s 60th Anniversary Celebration, where DanceStream Projects was honored to receive its first two grants in support of our collaboration with the New York Memory Center on the Raising Our Voices project. And don’t forget to read to the end to meet one of our newest teaching artists, Sophia!
Wherever this summer takes you, we hope you will find moments to move, connect, create, and care for one another. We can’t wait to dance with you.
With joy,
