The SMC Dance Department “Dance is Great Medicine” Initiative
The arts and humanities are the cornerstones for defining and understanding the human experience. These disciplines not only fuel our creativity and provide us with a sense of self and collective identity, but they also enhance our capacity to heal mentally and physically and make us whole again when we feel broken. This perspective, called Medical Arts and Humanities, is an evidence-based modality that recognizes the impact the arts and humanities have on providing, improving, and maintaining mental and physical health and wellness.
The SMC Dance Department “Dance is Great Medicine” Initiative is a departmental effort aimed toward raising awareness of the health and wellness benefits of incorporating the arts and humanities into our daily lives and promoting inclusive community engagement in these disciplines to improve quality of life and achieve optimal mental and physical well-being.
The SMC Dance Department “Dance is Great Medicine Initiative” was inspired by the Medical Humanities and the Arts program at Stanford Medical School and developed for the SMC Dance Department by Desmonette Hazly, MA, MSW, PhD and Dance Department Chair Mark Tomasic, MFA. The initiative highlights science and research that identifies the positive contributions of the arts and humanities to health and wellness, promotes empirically supported practices within the department that successfully utilize the arts and humanities to attain and maintain optimal health, and includes interdisciplinary collaboration across campus and with community stakeholders that have vested interest in public health to ensure accessibility to this highly specialized medical modality.
Dance is Great Medicine Founders
Dr. Desmonette Hazly MA, MSW, Ph.D, is an Integrative Health Specialist with an extensive background in Social Medicine.
Dr. Hazly currently develops and implements trauma-informed culturally inclusive health
and wellness education programs based on Lifestyle and Mind-Body Medicine, Culinary
Medicine, Nutritional Psychiatry and Medical Arts and Humanities. Receiving specialized
education and training from renowned institutions that include Harvard, Stanford,
Yale and Cornell universities, Dr. Hazly approaches health and wellness from a mind,
body and spirit perspective and provides adaptable health and wellness skills and
techniques that can be easily incorporated into daily activities. Dr. Hazly has developed
programs for the Veterans Administration, International Red Cross, UNICEF, and the
United Nations.
Mark Tomasic, MFA is Chair of the Dance Department of Santa Monica College. At SMC, he has been awarded
recognition as “Equity Champion” and “Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year” (2018-19).
Throughout his professional career of over 20 years Mark performed principal and featured
roles in the masterworks of such notable choreographers as Martha Graham, Donald McKayle,
Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Sean Curran, May O’Donnell, George Balanchine, Antony
Tudor, Flemming Flindt, Talley Beatty, and Agnes de Mille. As a choreographer, Mark
has created works for numerous dance companies, colleges, and universities across
the country. Mark has worked extensively in the field of physically integrated dance
with the Dancing Wheels Company & School, one of the premier arts and disability organizations
in the United States. Serving as Artistic Advisor to the Company, Mark travels nationally
and internationally to teach physically integrated dance to students and professionals
alike and is the author of the inclusive dance training manual, “Physically Integrated
Dance: The Dancing Wheels Comprehensive Guide for Teachers, Choreographers and Students
of Mixed Abilities.” Mark holds an AA from Cuyahoga Community College, a BFA in Ballet
from the University of Cincinnati, and an MFA in Dance from the University of California,
Irvine.