Dancing My Mind
Join us for Dancing My Mind – a unique two-day conference exploring how dance affects the brain, from childhood through to old age. In a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet, Balettakademien and the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, we blend inspiring lectures, interactive workshops, and expert panels.
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.
Speakers/Workshops: Reyna L. Gordon (USA), Guido Orgs (UK), Jennifer Cumming (UK), Gisela Nyberg (Sweden), Åsa N Åström (Sweden)
Organized by: Åsa N Åström (BA), Sanna Nordin Bates (GIH), Gunnar Bjursell (KI), John Sennet (KI)
Where and when? October 10th-11th at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) and Balettakademien, in Stockholm.
Price
Early bird if registered before the 31th of August
- One day – 800 SEK
- Two days – 1200 SEK
From September 1st
- One day – 1000 SEK
- Two days – 1500 SEK
Programme
10th of October
At The Swedish School of Sport and Health Science (GIH)
Brain health via dance: Neuroscience, dance, and artistry
10.30 - 10.45 Conference opening
10.45 - 11.30 Enhancing Brain Health and Cognitive Function Across the Lifespan, lecture by Maria Ekblom and Gisela Nyberg.
11.30 - 11.45 Break
11.45 - 12.30 Emphasizing artistry in dance for health work, workshop by Åsa N. Åström
12.30 - 13.30 Lunch
13.30 - 14.15 Genetic Signatures of moving in synchrony with music as a scientific window into human dance, lecture by Dr Reyna L. Gordon
14.15 - 14.30 Break
14.30 - 15.15 The Neurocognition of Dance, lecture by Dr. Guido Orgs
15.15 - 15.45 Swedish fika break
15.45 - 16.30 What are the active ingredients in making dance for health so health-promoting? How important is artistry? Panel discussion.
11th of October
At Balettakademien (BA)
Brain health for dancers: Making elite dance health-promoting
9.30-10.30 Workshop with Matthias Sperling and Guido Orgs
10.30 - 11.00 Coffee break
11.00 – 11.45 Behind the Curtain: Mental Health in High-Level Dance, lecture by Dr. Jennifer Cumming
11.45 – 12.45 Lunch
12.45 - 13.45 Well-Being in Motion: Rethinking the Traditional Dance Class through an artistic lens, workshop with Joakim Stephenson
13.45 - 14.30 How can elite/high-level dance be made more health-promoting? Panel discussion.
14.30 - 15.00 Swedish fika and departures