Dancing My Mind

We’ll explore how dance can support – but sometimes also undermine – mental well-being and cognitive function in both community and elite settings, and examine the key elements that can make dance so beneficial for health, including the role of artistry.

Whether you're a dancer, educator, researcher, or health professional, this is a chance to connect, learn, and move with researchers and dance professionals.

Program (på engelska):

Day 1: October 10th at The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH)

Brain health via dance: Neuroscience, dance, and artistry

10:00–10:30 Check-in for the conference at GIH

10:30–10:45 Conference Opening
Speakers: Per Nilsson, Vice-Chancellor at GIH; Sanna Nordin-Bates, Associate Professor at GIH; Gunnar Bjursell, Professor Emeritus, Karolinska Institutet; Jan Åström, Principal, Balettakademien; Annika Östman Wernerson, Vice-Chancellor, Karolinska Institutet

10:45–11:30 Lecture: Enhancing Brain Health and Cognitive Function Across the Lifespan: The Role of Exercise and School-Based Interventions in Youth
Speakers: Maria Ekblom, Professor of Sport Sciences and pro vice chancellor at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences and Gisela Nyberg, Professor of Sport Sciences at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences.

11:45–12:30 Workshop: Emphasizing artistry in dance for health work
Led by Åsa N. Åström, Choreographer, dancer and educator. Head of Dance for Health at Balettakademien in Stockholm.

13:30–14:15 Lecture: Genetic Signatures of Moving in Synchrony with Music: A Scientific Window into Human Dance
Speaker: Dr Reyna L. Gordon, Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

14:30–15:15 Lecture: The Neurocognition of Dance
Speaker: Dr Guido Orgs, Associate Professor and Group Leader of the Movement & Performance Group at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL.

15:45–16:30 Panel discussion: What are the active ingredients in making dance for health so health-promoting? How important is artistry?
Panelists: Reyna Gordon, Gunnar Bjursell, Guido Orgs, Anna Duberg, Åsa N. Åström
Moderator: Sanna Nordin Bates

Day 2: October 11th at Balettakademien

Brain health for dancers: Making high-level dance health-promoting

09:00–09:30 Check-in for the conference at Balettakademien

09:30–10:30 Workshop: Choreographic Investigations into Embodied Ways of Knowing
Led by Matthias Sperling, artist, choreographer, performer, and the artistic director of NEUROLIVE, and Guido Orgs

11:00–11:45 Lecture: Behind the Curtain: Mental Health in High-Level Dance
Speaker: Dr Jennifer Cumming, chartered psychologist, expert in sport and dance psychology at the University of Birmingham

12:45–13:45 Workshop: Well-Being in Motion: Rethinking the Traditional Dance Class through an Artistic Lens
Led by Joakim Stephenson, teacher and choreographer and former soloist with the Royal Swedish Ballet.

13:45–14:30 Panel discussion: How Can High-Level Dance Be Made More Health-Promoting?
Panelists: Jennifer Cumming, Joakim Stephenson, Sanna Nordin Bates, Sebastian Michanek
Moderator: Jan Åström

Organized by: Åsa N Åström (Balettakademien), Sanna Nordin Bates (GIH), Gunnar Bjursell (Karolinska Institutet), John Sennet (Karolinska Institutet)

Where and when? October 10th-11th at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) and Balettakademien, in Stockholm.

Price: 800 SEK for one day or 1200 SEK for two days (1000 SEK and 1500 SEK respectively after September 1st)

Registration: Click here to see the full programme and to register External link, opens in new window.