Rebecca Barnstaple | College of Arts

Rebecca Barnstaple

Assistant Professor
School of Theatre, English, and Creative Writing
Email: 
rbarnsta@uoguelph.ca
Office: 
Massey 213

Education

M.A in Dance, Philosophy, Neuroscience (2016)

Ph.D. in Dance Neuroscience, York University (2020)

Research

  • The investigation of biological dimensions of culture and the impacts of participation in the arts
  • Co-directs the Research to Practice Lab and Summer School for ZOE School of Dance Movement Therapy in Basel

Fellowships

  • Utilized mobile brain-body imaging to study dance-based learning, TU Berlin
  • Contributed to Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) involving dance, Wake Forest University

Professional

  • Manager of Community Initiatives, Research, and Innovation, Chigamik Community Health Centre in Midland, Ontario.
    • Architect of a Social Prescribing program
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI).
  • Graduate of the National Centre for Dance Therapy, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (2015).
    • Provides global education and training in dance therapy and associated research.

Improvisational Arts and Health Initiatives

  • IMPROVment (Wake Forest University, USA)
  • SingWell (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada)
  • Piece of Mind (McGill University, Canada)
  • Dance for Health (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Leadership for Professional Organizations

  • Dance Movement Therapy Association of Canada (Accreditation and Certification Committee)
  • The American Dance Therapy Association (Research and Practice Committee)
  • The International Association of Dance Medicine Science (International Benchmarking Standards Task Force, Dance for Health SIG)
  • The International Association for Creative Arts in Education and Therapy (North America; Research Team).

Bearss K, Barnstaple R, Bar RJ, & DeSouza JFX (2024). Impact of Weekly Community-Based Dance Training Over 8 Months on Depression and Blood Oxygen Level–Dependent Signals in the Subcallosal Cingulate Gyrus for People With Parkinson Disease: Observational Study. JMIRx Med 2024;5:e67815; doi: 10.2196/67815
(Featured in the Washington Post! https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2025/01/05/dancing-parkinsons/)

Fitch WT & Barnstaple R (2024). Dance as mindful movement: a perspective from motor learning and predictive coding. BMC Neurosci 25, 69. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12868-024-00894-9

Barnstaple R, Laurita-Spenglet J, Fanning J, Hugenschmidt CE, Soriano CT (2024). This time with feeling: Recommendations for full-bodied reporting of research on dance. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

Rice PE, Thumuluri D, Barnstaple R, Fanning J, Laurita-Spanglet J, Soriano CT, Hugenschmidt CE. Moving Towards a Medicine of Dance: A Scoping Review of Characteristics of Dance Interventions Targeting Older Adults and a Theoretical Framework. J Alzheimers Dis. 2024 Jul 12. doi: 10.3233/JAD-230741. Epub ahead of print.

Vaillancourt A, Barnstaple R, Robitaille N, Williams T. (June 2024) Nature prescribing: emerging insights about reconciliation-based and culturally inclusive approaches from a tricultural community health centre. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Management Canada.

Fanning JT, Barnstaple R, Babcock P…Soriano CT. (2023). Virtual delivery of improvisational movement and social engagement interventions in the IMOVE trial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conctc.2023.101102

Thumuluri D, Lyday R, Babcock P, Ip EH, Kraft RA, Laurienti PJ, Barnstaple R, Soriano CT and Hugenschmidt CE (2022) Improvisational Movement to Improve Quality of Life in Older Adults With Early-Stage Dementia: A Pilot Study. Front. Sports Act. Living 3:796101. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2021.796101

Barnstaple R, Hugenschmidt CE, Soriano CT (2022). Dance me to the end with love: A duet with neuroscience and dance. Dancing Across the Lifespan: Age related issues in Dance. Editors Doug Risner, Karen Schupp, Pam Musil. Palgrave Macmillan.

Barnstaple R, Rabinovich D, DeSouza JFX (2022). Can expert dancers be a springboard model to investigate neurorehabilitation via dance? Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance. Editors Mary Fogarty, Imani Kai Johnson.

Barnstaple R & Dieterich-Hartwell R (2022). Neurobiological considerations in the treatment of trauma from a DMT perspective. In R. Dieterich-Hartwell & A. M. Melsom (Eds.), Dance/movement therapy for trauma survivors: Theoretical, clinical and cultural perspectives. Routledge.

Ghanai K, Barnstaple R, DeSouza JFX (2021). Virtually in Synch: A Pilot Study on Affective Dimensions of Dancing with Parkinson’s during COVID-19. Research in Dance Education special issue – Dance, Health and Wellbeing, Eds Angela Pickard and Doug Risner.

Hugenschmidt C, Thumuluri D, Soriano C, Barnstaple R, Fanning J, Laurita-Spanglet J, Ip E. The Virtualization of a Movement and Social Group-Activity Intervention for Older Adults and Their Caregivers. Innov Aging. 2021 Dec 17;5(Suppl 1):280. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igab046.1090. PMCID: PMC8679398.

Barnstaple R, Protzak J, DeSouza JFX, Gramann K. (2020). Mobile Brain/body Imaging (MoBI) in dance: A dynamic transdisciplinary field for applied research. European Journal of Neuroscience, special issue – Time to move: Brain dynamics underlying natural action and cognition.

Active Aging IN/THROUGH Dance, Transdisciplinary Scholarship Connector Grant, University of Calgary with Sarah Kenny and Pil Hansen
Mime Over Mind, Advisory Board and support for Research/Training https://mimeovermind.com/
IMPROVment - Improvisational Movement for Brain/Body Health - Research and Teaching https://improvment.wfu.edu/