DANCE MOVEMENT
JOANABBEY SACK, MA. BC-DMT is a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist and a Registered Drama Therapist with extensive training in the social sciences, Laban Movement Analysis, theatre arts, dance and music. Joanabbey is the dance movement therapist at Concordia University’s Centre for the Arts in Human Development since 1996, and has been teaching in the university’s Creative Arts Therapies Graduate Programme for more than 20 years.
MAURA FISHER, PT, is a physiotherapist working at the Royal Victoria and Montreal Neurological Hospitals with an all-consuming passion for the treatment of neurological conditions. She is certified in LSVT BIG, a neuroplasticity-based rehabilitation approach for people with Parkinson’s. Furthermore, she completed the Essential Yoga Teacher training at UnitedYogaMontreal. She brings together the clinical expertise of her physiotherapy skills and her artistry and love of dance to PEM.
TETIANA LAZUK, PhD,R-DMT, is at present Scholar in Residence / Dance Movement Therapy at Concordia University. She worked as psychiatrist and psychotherapist in the Ukraine for more than 10 years prior to coming to Canada. She has a PhD in Psychiatry and has completed her training in Dance/Movement Therapy. Tetiana began teaching with PEM in 2012 and continues to bring us her creativity, her excellent listening skills and her love of life.
ZUZANA SEVCIKOVA, MA, RDT, BC-DMT, has a Physiotherapy degree from the Czech Republic, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance and a Master’s in Drama Therapy from Concordia University in Montreal; she completed a program in Dance/Movement Therapy in New York. As a therapist and a dancer, Zuzana contributes to PEM both her artistic skills and medical knowledge.
ANNA BENDAS, BA, MSc candidate, has a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and behavioural neuroscience from McGill University. Prior to completing PEM’s training program in 2017, Anna has volunteered at PEM for several years. She is a passionate advocate of dance and music as alternative therapies and is always eager to find modern ways to implement movement therapy in her classes. Anna constantly applies her knowledge of psychology and behavioural neuroscience during her dance sessions.
NATALIA LEWANDOWSKI, BSc, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University. She has a keen interest in science and healthcare and plans to pursue medicine in the future. After moving to Montreal, she was excited to join Parkinson en Mouvement and completed her PEM training in 2018. As a former competitive dancer, Natalia has 13 years of experience in ballet and other genres of dance. She actively advocates for the use of dance as a complementary therapy to traditional Parkinson’s treatments, both in the Montreal community and her home province of Ontario. During her sessions, she combines her passion for dance with knowledge of anatomy and human biology to structure classes that safely improve participants’ physical and mental wellbeing.
SINGING
CHARLOTTE CUMBERBIRCH, MMus, MTA, MA has been singing professionally in Montreal since 2005 as a freelancer and as a regular member of the OSM professional core, la Chapelle de Québec, le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, and the choir of St. Andrew and St. Paul. She has sung as a soloist and choir member under the baton of Kent Nagano, Rafael Payare, Jean-Sebastien Vallée, Matthias Maute, Christopher Jackson, Hervé Niquet, Bernard Labadie, Jean-Marie eitouni, and Jean-François Rivest. A recent graduate of the music therapy program at Concordia University, she is now working as a performer, conductor, educator and therapist. Charlotte’s areas of interest include vocal health, songwriting, vocal improvisation and group singing. While Charlotte’s musical education was rooted in the classical European tradition, she has a love for many different styles and genres and has made it one of her goals to listen to and experience as much music as possible. Charlotte’s approach to singing is one rooted in the principle of “do what feels good”, reinforcing her belief that the act of singing can be a powerful tool to reconnect to self and to others.
We are training new teachers… interested? Would you like to be part of our team? Learn how to prepare & teach PEM’s dance programme
If you are a dancer, physiotherapist, kinesiologist or another type of therapist and you are interested in teaching dance with PEM, we have developed a training program for this purpose. For more information call us at 438 823 1049 or contact parkinsonenmouvement@gmail.com.