Adapted Tango Program
Tango Mercurio’s Adapted Tango Program is designed to provide therapeutic benefit, improve quality of life, spark joy, and promote social connection among people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) through Argentine tango. The Program consists of two parts: training for instructors and two five-week pilot series for people with PD and their caregivers.
We are offering a 16-hour training session for prospective instructors September 5-7, 2025 at George Washington University’s Post Hall with the Program developer and researcher, Dr. Madeleine Hackney, a professional dancer and neuroscientist. Instruction will include a lecture on movement disorders, sensory and motor impairments, and falls in those with PD and older adults; balance management training; Adapted Tango Program class structure, warm-up, and basic partnering; Adapted Tango Fundamentals and syllabus breakdown; a practicum; and a written exam. To enroll in the training program apply now. Applications are due August 1.
After the instructor training session, we will launch our free pilot series of weekly 1.5-hour classes for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. Volunteer instructors trained in our Adapted Tango Program and safety protocols for working with people with PD will provide support. In these classes, we adopt a “practice embrace” in which partners hold elbows and maintain more distance than in traditional tango. Each class begins with a seated warm-up, standing exercises with the support of a chair or wall if necessary, then walking and partner work, dancing, and socializing, as well as breaks as needed.
There will be five weekly classes per series, both of which will be held Wednesday mornings at 11:00am on the main GWU campus. The first series will run September 17-October 15: apply here; the second series will be October 22-November 19: apply here.
No dance experience or partner is required for either the instructor training or the pilot series. The instructor training session is free of charge for participants who commit to volunteering for one of the two five-week pilot series; $350 for all others. Applications for both the training and the pilot series are due August 1.
This Program is partially funded by a generous grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Please help us make up the difference by contributing to our GoFundMe campaign. Thank you for your support!
Adapted Tango Program
Weekend Intensive Training
With Dr. Madeleine Hackney
Schedule:
Friday, Sept. 5, 6:00pm–9:00pm
Saturday, Sept. 6, 11am–5pm
Sunday, Sept. 7, 11am–5pm
Venue:
Post Hall, George Washington University
Mount Vernon Campus
2100 Foxhall Rd NW
Washington, DC 20007
Instructor:
Dr. Madeleine Hackney
Associate Professor of Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
Links:
Adapted Tango Program Instructor Training Application Form.
Adapted Tango Program Pilot Series 1 Enrollment Form.
