Time to Dance is dedicated to enriching the health and quality of life for adults through dance education, research, and performance.
Our Story
Founders Lynne Chervony Belsky (left) and Lisa Gold (right)
Lynne Chervony Belsky, M.D., is a former dancer with the Joffrey Ballet and a Highland Park physician. Lisa Gold is a dance instructor and owner of Highland Park’s North Shore School of Dance. Together they founded the nonprofit Time to Dance (formerly CBG Institute for Dance and Health). The mission of TTD is to enrich the health and quality of life of older adults through dance education, performance, and outreach. Sharing the vision of a community that conquers ageism by encouraging and supporting senior citizens in their artistic endeavors, they teach dance classes to adults 50 and up in Gold’s studio, located a block from the downtown Highland Park Metra station.
Belsky began researching the therapeutic effects of dance in 2012 and found that, “there are numerous benefits of dance as we age. Different types of activity may help to ease symptoms or slow the need for care, but studies show that there is one specific activity that addresses all of these issues and is socially engaging and fun—and that activity is dance.”
“In the dance class, we include exercises where students hold on to the barre while standing on one leg to increase stability,” says Gold. Beyond physical strength, dance can also build self-esteem and improve quality of life. “With graceful walking exercises, we build balance and strength which gives people the confidence to move freely through the world,” she notes.
“Participating in dance heightens feelings of joy and connectedness,” says Belsky. Studies show that structured dance is also medically therapeutic and has direct benefits that include increased stability, muscle strength, improved reaction time, cognitive improvements, tactile and motor skills performance, perceptual abilities and overall wellbeing.