Nancy Stern Bain ’73

Nancy Stern Bain ’73 is the living, dancing embodiment of the enriched life of service that beckons many CC students. A glimpse of her future may have appeared to Dance Instructor Hanya Holm, in whose legendary summer institutes Nancy danced, and to her inspirational professors — Glenn Gray, Jane Cauvel, Harvey Rabbin, Doug Freed, Marianne Stoller, and Norman Cornick — when, as a philosophy major, she produced her thesis, “The Phenomenology of Dance.” The undergraduate from Houston imagined herself as an English major with an interest in teaching, and these passions joined the love of dance
in the path that has become her life.

Nancy moved smoothly from life at CC to a life of dance, starting in Colorado Springs after graduation. She created the Summer Sun Dance Company with locals and a few CC people; took over for a Parks Department teacher working with residents diagnosed with dementia and stroke; and used dance to work with women in the county jail.

Nancy’s aspirations for professional dancing took her to New York City, where she earned a master’s degree in dance education from NYU in 1978, danced professionally with small companies, and started IdeaDance – Nancy & Co. Dancers. IdeaDance lasted 13 years, with Nancy assuming administrative roles along with choreography and dancing.

In 2001, she moved to Austin, Texas, to perform, choreograph, and teach dance. In 2004, she was certified to teach Silver Sneakers, a senior exercise program, and soon found a strong connection to the seniors.

The link to Parkinson’s patients came via Nancy’s mother, Catherine Stern, who saw a PBS feature about Dance for PD, a collaboration between the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Brooklyn Parkinson Group. Nancy realized that dancing with Parkinson’s patients would be a way to keep dancing, share her knowledge of fitness with seniors, and help others.
Crediting the disciplined efficiency CC’s Block Plan fosters, Nancy decided to go to the source and returned to Brooklyn to train with Dance for PD’s founders. Starting with a small class, they built what is now a national (30 states) and international (nine countries) program in which people with Parkinson’s reap physical, psychological, and social benefits — results supported by research.

The program Nancy created in Austin has the same objectives. Dancing with Parkinson’s has emerged as what Nancy calls “one of the consummate models of this program.” Two volunteers administer, publicize, develop community outreach, and raise funds, freeing Nancy to teach. Classes meet in three venues every week, reaching people throughout the fast-growing city.

Power for Parkinson’s combines Dancing with Parkinson’s with complementary fitness approaches including chair yoga, strength training, and walking. Dancing with Parkinson’s is free to all participants and their caregivers. Partnerships with community organizations assist with transportation and family and medical resources. In February 2014, Power for Parkinson’s and Dancing with Parkinson’s celebrated their first anniversary with an adaptation of Martha Graham’s “Appalachian Spring” and a rendition of “Singing in the Rain,” both choreographed by Nancy.

Professional dance is a finite career, but, says Nancy, working with people with disabilities or physical challenges “has always been rewarding for me. I have always wanted to make a connection with dance. . . . This is my retirement job. I want to be doing this until I can’t walk anymore.” Nancy’s fitness enabled her to return to her full schedule a few months after a double hip-replacement in July 2013.

A CC fusion of philosophy, dance, and education has supported a lifetime of dance and service to others — what Nancy says is “good for them, and good for me.”