Workshop with David Leventhal and Yukiko Konishi

This special workshop offers an in-depth look at the philosophy and practice of Dance for PD®, a program that has been engaging people living with Parkinson’s in artistic dance experiences for more than two decades. We will explore how our work is grounded not in therapy models alone, but in the belief that participants are artists first—capable of nuance, musicality, and creative expression. A central focus will be the way we use music as a structural partner in the class: tempo, phrasing, dynamics, and form become an external movement roadmap for individuals who may have difficulty accessing internal rhythm or coordinating complex motor sequences. Drawing on principles that resonate deeply with Dalcroze practice, David and Yukiko will examine how carefully chosen musical cues can support initiation, fluidity, balance, and expressive timing. Through discussion and experiential exercises, participants will gain practical strategies for designing musically rich environments that unlock agency, confidence, and joy in people living with Parkinson’s.

David Levanthal

David Leventhal is a dancer, teaching artist, and nonprofit leader whose work demonstrates the transformative power of dance across the lifespan. He is a founding teacher and Program Director of the Mark Morris Dance Group’s internationally recognized Dance for PD® program, which serves as a model for classes in more than 500 communities in 30 countries. He leads classes and trains teachers worldwide, co-produced five volumes of the program’s At Home instructional video series, and helped develop innovative projects including Moving Through Glass, a dance-based Google Glass app for people with Parkinson’s. David has contributed to leading publications on arts and health, including Renée Fleming’s Music and Mind, and is a founding member of the Dance for Health Committee of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science. His honors include the IADMS Pioneer Dance Educator Award, the Martha Hill Mid-Career Artist Award, and the World Parkinson Congress Award for Distinguished Contribution. A former member of the Mark Morris Dance Group (1997–2011), he received a Bessie Award for his performance career. He teaches in Columbia University’s Narrative Medicine program and serves on the board of the Davis Phinney Foundation.

Yukiko Konishi

Yukiko Konishi holds a B.A. in piano performance from Osaka College of Music in Japan, where she studied with Masutaka Kanazawa. She also studied with Sergei Dorensky at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum of Salzburg, Austria. She has performed as a soloist with Kansai Philharmonic Orchestra and Arukadia Chamber, and has recorded with EMI. 

She received her Dalcroze Certificate from the New York Dalcroze School of Music in 1998, which gave her the skills needed to be a life-long improviser thanks to Hilda Schuster, Robert Abramson, Anne Farber, and Lisa Parker. 

Her additional training and certifications include a World Music Drumming Certificate with Will Schmid, a Certificate in Responsive Pedagogy from Teachers College, Columbia University, and completing the Mark Morris Dance Accompaniment Program. 

She is on the faculty at the Special Music School (New York City public school 859 for musically gifted students) and Lucy Moses School at Kaufman Music Center where she teaches music theory and Dalcroze Eurhythmics to children ranging from toddlers to elementary school-aged students. 

She is the former Vice President of the Dalcroze Society of America.

In addition to her teaching, Yukiko currently serves as an accompanist for Ballet, Modern and Cunningham classes at the Mark Morris Dance Center, the Ailey School, the Taylor School for Dance Education, and New York Theatre Ballet, among others.

While her primary instrument is piano, she enjoys incorporating percussion when appropriate, enriching the rhythmic texture of the class and supporting the dancers’ movement experience.