November 2025 Edition: Dancing into Gratitude
Dear friend,
Earlier this month, I was speaking with one of my mentors, a lifelong dancer, educator and scholar who trained with the group dance improvisation visionary, Barbara Mettler. We were reflecting on rhythm and how we can cultivate a sense of awareness of the rhythm inside and around each of us - and in so doing, allow for an even deeper engagement and agency with dance and our every day movements.
Barbara Mettler’s career was built on the core belief that dance is an elemental part of life and that each of us is a dancer. In fact, everything moves (even at an atomic level, the most seemingly still objects are in fact in motion) and all movement has “rhythm, a pulsation of the inevitable alternation of activity and rest.”
As Barbara wrote:
“Rhythm is a basic element of movement, and movement is a fundamental quality of life. A serious study of rhythm, based on a scientific analysis and creative application of those rhythms which are within our own bodies, may be considered not only a fruitful educational field but an urgent cultural necessity. It begins with a study of the rhythm of everyday movements and culminates in the art of the dance.”
How do we cultivate a common rhythm? Perhaps one way is to come together in spaces that facilitate witnessing our internal rhythms reflected in expression shared with others. As one of our collaborating artists, Macarena Espina Díaz poetically summarized our connection with a community of people living with dementia in the Bronx: “We are each part of something larger—woven into community, held by one another, and always in motion.”
As we navigate toward the end of this year, I find myself immersed in moments of reflection, gratitude and awe, for what we have envisioned and nurtured into motion together. I appreciate how alongside this growing DanceStream Projects community, we have identified a collective rhythm that continues to carry us in a shared pulse of belonging and hope.
As another community partner, executive director of New York Memory Center shares, this collective rhythm “strengthens not only participants’ self-esteem and sense of agency, but also the emotional fabric of our community.”
This month, we invite you to take a moment to reflect on and celebrate all that we have accomplished together alongside you this year and join us in bringing new ideas and dreams into action. Stretch into the edge of the (un)known to cultivate a sense of inspiration, meaning and wellbeing alongside our latest podcast episode with Dr. Vessel. Read about our latest research paper which synthesizes the evidence on the impact of dance on brain health for individuals living with dementia to inform decision-making and future practice.
And of course, we always welcome you to join us online or in person to dance with us and find your own rhythm of connection!
With gratitude and love,
