PD Movement Lab | from Parkinson's Coach Pamela Quinn

The Lab

A laboratory is a place for exploration, for experiment, for innovation. PD Movement Lab is for all those things. Begun in 2006 by Pamela Quinn for the Brooklyn Parkinson's Group, the Lab has been at the forefront of designing new approaches to the many day-to-day physical challenges faced by people with Parkinson's. Blending her background in dance training with her personal experience as a Parkinson's patient, Quinn invents tools that allow PwPs to rediscover mobility and greater physical freedom.

Now the Lab is an expanding presence online, conveying vital information, offering resources, and delivering best practices in the management of PD to people with Parkinson's everywhere.

The Coach

Pamela Quinn is a professional dancer and PD Coach who has had Parkinson’s disease for over 25 years. Her personal experience of PD combined with her keen knowledge of the body derived from dance training gives her a unique position from which to analyze patients’ physical functioning and to imagine creative solutions to the problems posed by PD. Interested in finding as many ways as possible to counter PD’s challenges, she experiments with a variety of approaches in her lab: cuing systems, music, dance, athletic drills, imagery and physical strategies, which together offer concrete tools to improve her students mobility and lives. Her innovative approach has achieved widespread recognition and made her a sought after teacher and speaker in the PD community in the U.S. and abroad.  She has been invited to present her work at some of the most forward-thinking medical institutions in the country and at the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th World Parkinson’s Congresses, the 2nd Parkinson’s Congress of Japan, the 2015 EXPO in Milan, Italy, the 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitative Medicine, and the 2021 Davis Phinney Foundation Victory Summit.

She has been featured in many media outlets, including a profile on the CBS Evening News, and was the subject of a chapter in the recent book by the prominent science journalist Jon Palfreman, Brain Storms: The Race to Unlock the Mysteries of Parkinson’s Disease. She has produced a series of award winning videos and performance pieces using performers with and without Parkinson’s, and was the Parkinson’s consultant to actor Christopher Walken on the critically acclaimed film A Late Quartet. In 2019 she was named a Dance/USA National Fellow for her use of dance in service of social change.

Her live-class, also titled PD Movement Lab, runs every Friday at the Mark Morris Dance Studio in Brooklyn, New York with the support of Dance for PD. She also teaches at the JCC in Manhattan. She loves her students, and her classes work as a constant caldron of experimentation.

Testimonials

Her deep insight into her own physical body coupled with her immense creative energy has created an exercise program that lifts her students out of their limitations. We can look to her in the future to always be near the cutting edge of physical therapy for PD.

– John Argue, Parkinson's Disease & The Art of Moving

Pam's classes energize and create a fun affirming and therapeutic environment that have benefitted the mind and body of countless people with Parkinson's. She is among the most charismatic and iconic figures in the Parkinson's community.

– Alessandro Di Rocco, MD, Professor of Neurology, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra Northwell, System Director - Neurology, Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders, Northwell Health

She understands us and our limitations, yet she gently pushes us beyond them. I trust her and am not afraid to try.

– Sharon Resin, Student

The diligence with which Pam constantly tries to communicate her ideas is what sets her apart. She is inventive, inflappable, open to suggestion and genuine in concern for her students.

– Joy Esterberg, Student

I looked up from where I was sitting and participating to see the entire room, 185 people with Parkinson’s and their Care Partners in perfect unison. It was like watching a beautiful ballet or a champion synchronized swimming team. Even more impressive was the fact that none of these people had ever participated in this session before.

–James Trussell, Founder of Georgia Parkinson’s Association

From the moment I get out of bed, to when I lie back down at night, I carry Pam's practical tools and motivational words to guide me through the difficult moments that Parkinson's throws my way.

– Carol Enseki, Student

Having the background of intense physical analysis plus her personal sensation of the disease gives her a unique vantage point from which to create helpful exercises. Add that to her compassion and energetic spirit, and you have a wonderful PD Coach.

–Dr. Lucien-Cote, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center

Pam raises our awareness of the potential for healthy movement to relieve disorders of movement--a paradigm shift with great potential for both patients and clinicians.

–Lisa M. Shulman, M.D., Professor of Neurology, Co-Director, University of Maryland PD & Movement Disorders Center

Pam's energy and enthusiasm to reach people in the Parkinson's community through dance, video, and other media is infectious. She has a way to reach people through her creations, assuring them that they are not alone in this world.

–Elizabeth Pollard, Executive Director, World Parkinson Coalition, Inc.