Photo credit: Mark Garvin (UnRavelled)
This fall, DanceStream Projects was delighted to join the team behind UnRavelled—a powerful new play inspired by the true story of Anne Adams, a scientist living with frontotemporal dementia whose experience with Ravel’s Boléro became a remarkable exploration of the relationship between music, the brain and identity.
From October 8–11 in Philadelphia and again during the play’s New York City premiere October 20–24, our Executive Director Magda Kaczmarska joined an extraordinary outreach team—including GBHI Fellow and musician Cathy Correa Lopera, Samantha Rose Williams, and Akili Davis—to bring the themes at the heart of UnRavelled beyond the theater and into community.
In Philadelphia, the team connected with more than 40 people living with dementia at the A to Z Adult Day Program, using music, dance and poetry to explore the play’s themes of creativity, connection and hope. Magda also worked alongside WriteMinds, a student-led creative writing group from the University of Pennsylvania, to co-lead a workshop exploring the connections between dance and poetry. Together, these experiences created opportunities for participants to engage with the story of UnRavelled not simply as an audience, but through their own creativity and expression.
The team also joined community members following the performance presented by Penn Live Arts, exploring the powerful interconnections between music, dance and poetry and the ways the arts can open new pathways for connection and meaning.
When UnRavelled arrived in New York, DanceStream was thrilled to partner with the team to help bring access to the play—and to the artists and outreach team—to communities across the city.
The week offered many points of connection: a conversation about Anne Adams, Ravel and FTD with writer and Executive Director Jake Broder at the Queens Center for Gay Seniors; a visual art workshop with Samantha Rose Williams at the New York Memory Center; a workshop at the Jamaica Older Adult Center exploring art, care and creativity; and, of course, the opportunity for community members to experience the play itself at Miller Theatre.
Magda also joined the Saturday post-show talkback, contributing a perspective on the role of art in brain health and the importance of creating opportunities for connection and participation within community.
For us, this partnership embodies something we deeply believe at DanceStream: art doesn't stop at the theater doors. When artists and communities come together, a performance can become a conversation, a workshop can become a place of discovery, and creativity can become a pathway to connection and belonging.
We are excited to continue growing in community with the UnRavelled team—and to follow where this collaboration takes us next.
Stay tuned for more events and performance dates across the U.S. in 2027!
