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September 01 2020

Observing the World as Dancers Do: Teaching Dance to Medical Students

Catherine Rogers,

Catherine Rogers

Catherine Rogers is Associate Director and Lecturer in the Division of Narrative Medicine, Columbia University, where she received her MS degree. She was a Fulbright fellow (Greece) and a Michener fellow at the University of Texas, with an MFA in playwriting. [email protected]

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David Leventhal,

David Leventhal

David Leventhal, Program Director for Dance for PD®, a model for Parkinson’s dance classes in 25 countries, performed principal roles with the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997 to 2011. [email protected]

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Leah Apple,

Leah Apple

Leah Apple, a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in East Asian languages and civilizations. [email protected]

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Katrina Kostro,

Katrina Kostro

Katrina Kostro is a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, with a BA in art history from Barnard College. [email protected]

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Andrew Sudler,

Andrew Sudler

Andrew Sudler is a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, with a BA in psychology from Harvard University and MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. [email protected]

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Rita Charon

Rita Charon

Rita Charon, MD, PhD is an internist and literary scholar who originated the field of narrative medicine. She is Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities and Ethics and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. [email protected]

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Author and Article Information

Catherine Rogers

Catherine Rogers is Associate Director and Lecturer in the Division of Narrative Medicine, Columbia University, where she received her MS degree. She was a Fulbright fellow (Greece) and a Michener fellow at the University of Texas, with an MFA in playwriting. [email protected]

David Leventhal

David Leventhal, Program Director for Dance for PD®, a model for Parkinson’s dance classes in 25 countries, performed principal roles with the Mark Morris Dance Group from 1997 to 2011. [email protected]

Leah Apple

Leah Apple, a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in East Asian languages and civilizations. [email protected]

Katrina Kostro

Katrina Kostro is a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, with a BA in art history from Barnard College. [email protected]

Andrew Sudler

Andrew Sudler is a fourth-year medical student at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, with a BA in psychology from Harvard University and MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. [email protected]

Rita Charon

Rita Charon, MD, PhD is an internist and literary scholar who originated the field of narrative medicine. She is Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities and Ethics and Professor of Medicine at Columbia University. [email protected]

Online ISSN: 1531-4715

Print ISSN: 1054-2043

©2020 New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2020

New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

TDR/The Drama Review (2020) 64 (3 (247)): 67–78.

https://doi.org/10.1162/dram_a_00943

Abstract

On a sunny day in a studio overlooking the Hudson River, a Mark Morris dancer guides a group of medical students in choreographing their patients’ stories. This class in narrative medicine provides a safe laboratory where doctors-to-be learn to view their relationships with future patients as an improvisatory partnered dance in which the choreography adjusts moment to moment as new challenges, details, and possibilities for healing emerge.

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©2020 New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2020

New York University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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