“Störung/ הפרעה” is a unique collaborative interdisciplinary project that brings together scientists, professional dancers and choreographers, physicians, as well as people with Parkinson’s from Israel and Germany, to explore different aspects of human movement and movement disorder. Specifically, the project involves Theater Freiburg and The Cluster of Excellence BrainLinks­BrainTools of Freiburg University on the German side, and the Yasmeen Godder Dance Company, Ben­Gurion University, Institute of Technology (Technion), University of Haifa, Weizmann Institute of Science, Bar­Ilan University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the Israeli side.

Since February 2015, we have been holding weekly dance lessons with about 40 people with Parkinson’s both in Freiburg and in Tel Aviv.  Graduate ­level junior scientists participate in these dance lessons and conduct related studies. In addition the Junior scientists and the dancers meet regularly for collaborative workshops, revolving around central themes identified by both the German and the Israeli teams: Intention, Unison, Transition, Identity, Interactivity and more. The dancers and choreographers who are teaching the classes are also conducting artistic research.

The Final Concluding Conferences are opportunities to invite the different communities involved in the project and the public to meet and share ideas, questions and current findings. Both conferences will include lectures by key speakers in the individual fields of study as well as presentations of the scientific and artistic research in a variety of forms. ­These will include formal lectures, performances and interdisciplinary workshops that combines scientific methods and practices from the world of contemporary dance.