Ambassador Belinda Adam's talks about Ballet for Brain project

In April of this year, Ballet for Brain Injury pilot program began at Queensland Ballet’s West End studios. After a successful ten-week trial with ten brain injury survivors and their carer/support worker, classes are now running every Saturday with plans to undertake a clinical trial next.

Developed in partnership with Citrine Sun Entertainment, The Hopkins Centre and The Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre at Griffith University, the program uses ballet-based movement, music and artistry to enable participants to experience the enjoyment, creative expression and wellbeing benefits dance can bring.

In August 2019, I met with Queensland Ballet Education Manager, Marther Godber to pitch the idea of creating an evidence-supported dance rehabilitation program “Ballet for Brain Injury” with the full support of Professor Elizabeth Kendall in my role as an Ambassador for the Hopkins Centre. I was impressed by Queensland Ballet’s commitment to supporting creative health initiatives after visiting one of their Dance for Parkinson’s Classes which is just one of the numerous inclusive dance programs offered at QB’s West End studios.

In 2020, Griffith’s Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre supported a scoping literature review, led by Lead Investigator Professor Naomi Sunderland, Honour’s student Joel Spence and myself in my first project as an Adjunct Research Fellow. Together we undertook a scoping literature review on Enablers & Barriers for people with brain injury and their carers which informed the ten-week Ballet for Brain Injury Pilot Program.

As an emerging impact producer, I knew we needed to capture the program on film to enable participants a platform to share their experiences and to raise awareness of the ongoing barriers faced by those living with what is known as the “invisible disability”. Our short documentary “QB Ballet for Brain Injury” has been accepted into this year’s Focus on Ability Film Festival, a short film festival that encourages the community to become aware of the ability of people with a disability. I founded Citrine Sun Entertainment in 2013 with a mission to combine my drive to collaboratively create rehabilitation programs with my passion as an emerging impact producer to create inclusive programs and tell authentic stories with and for people of all abilities.

The past nine years throughout my own TBI journey as a carer, I have shared my personal experience to raise awareness for those affected by speaking at numerous events to encourage others in the brain injury community to never give up believing that recovery from brain injury can improve over time. We need rehabilitation programs to be accessible to all but still have a long way to go with limited brain injury rehabilitation programs and resources for those affected who are often dealing with feelings of isolation as well as physical and social barriers. We need to better support this community to enable people the best opportunity to recover.

The Hopkins Centre are doing amazing work in the research and rehabilitation space and I am honoured to be just one of their ambassadors whose initiatives have been supported by the centre and their team of researchers.

Article by Belinda Adams Hopkins Centre Ambassador & Citrine Sun Entertainment Director

 

Read more about Ballet for Brain research

View the short documentary, produced and filmed by Hopkins Ambassador and Citrine Sun Entertainment’s director, Belinda Adams 

Vote for short documentary film in the Focus on Ability Film Festival