Efficacy of ReWire – Dancing States in Differently-Abled Populations
In November 2014, Art Spark Dance invited Choreographer and teacher Nina Martin to teach her ReWire – Dancing States method in a weekend workshop in Austin TX. Although Nina had never worked with people with disabilities before, participants with cerebral palsy reported surprising improvements—moments of sustained stillness, better alignment, expanded limb movement, reduced spasticity, and greater internal agency.
Encouraged by these outcomes, Art Spark Dance and Nina Martin conducted further pilot workshops in 2015 and 2016, documenting even more pronounced effects in participants’ motor control and embodied experience. The work became the springboard for a formal investigation into ReWire’s therapeutic potential.
Nina Martin, in partnership with Art Spark Dance, has been conducting a full research study—formally approved by Texas Christian University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB)—to examine how ReWire – Dancing States can support movement, alignment, and well-being in people with cerebral palsy. As part of the study, professional consultants in neuro-physical therapy, movement therapy, Body-Mind Centering, Feldenkrais, and related modalities are contributing to interpretation and translation of findings.
This project builds on artistic practices and emergent evidence to explore how improvisational movement techniques may function as both creative expression and therapeutic practice.
