Natalie Muschamp’s academic dance journey started over a decade ago in the Netherlands, but it is her enrolment in the Dance Studies Masters program with the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta that saw her set up Step Up for Parkinson’s; a voluntary organisation to help people with Parkinson’s improve their quality of life.
With the support of the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Malta Memorial District Nursing Association, and especially the Malta Social Impact Awards and the Good Cause Fund, Natalie and her team of 11 teachers are able to offer free dance classes specifically aimed towards Parkinson’s sufferers nine times a week in various localities across the island.
Her first brush with Parkinson’s came through her aunt, Ineke. She embarked on a pilgrimage from Amsterdam to Rome to process the passing of her partner. Natalie’s aunt went on to publish a book about her journey and managed to raise 13,100 for the Dutch Parkinson’s Foundation.
Having witnessed the disease’s impact on the caregiver, Natalie embarked on a Masters program with her research focusing on “the benefits of movement and expression for both the person with Parkinson’s disease and their carer.” Her fate, and that of her organisation, were sealed when Francesca Tranter, one of her lecturers in her study program, showed her a video of Dance for PD project in New York.
Natalie’s first collaboration came in 2016 through the Malta Parkinson’s Disease Association where they started an eight week pilot course. It did not take her long to make a stark realisation: “I soon realised that the classes had to be designed for both the person with Parkinson’s disease and their carer,” she explains.
Natalie adds that there are substantial economic costs related to the illness, but her mission was and continues to be “to help everyone irrespective of their economic states.” Her stance is clear and unwavering: “the classes are and have to remain free of charge.”
Natalie explains that her research during her Masters studies allowed her to develop her own methodology: “Besides working on the physical aspect – helping to improve balance and motor symptoms – we also strive to improve their overall wellbeing and sociability.” By providing them a safe space to do so, Natalie confirms that participants have “regained their identity, improved their self-esteem and have been given the opportunity to make new friends.” And her efforts have paid off: initially kicking off with 15 participants, the organisation is now nearing 200.
Working full-time at Step up for Parkinson’s, Natalie confirms that her work is incredibly rewarding: “I never work, what I do is done from the heart.” Her efforts were very recently rewarded on the national stage, with H.E. Dr George Vella presenting Natalie with the Award for Services rendered to the Republic. “I am still speechless and overwhelmed,” Natalie says, explaining that the feeling was amplified further when she was informed that her nomination came thanks to the participants.
The event marks the importance and relevance of her mission and Natalie is determined to make an even greater success out of it. Her priority is sustainability, which once settled will allow her to focus on further research and development. Currently also working on an international documentary that will introduce Malta to the world, Natalie admits that she would only consider the internationalisation of her project if classes remain free of charge: “this is not a business, we are here to help people and I fear that this could be abused by those who want to make money.”
There are quite a few people who were critical to Natalie's success in the field namely her family, close friends, the team at Step up for Parkinson's , her advisors, and Prof. Smith and Mr Bartolo from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Business Incubation at Take-off at the University of Malta as well as the teaching staff at the School of Performing Arts. "I would not have been able to do this without their help," Natalie concludes.