Attend Applied Improv Workshops
At Resonance Improv Alliance, we believe play, laughter, and human connection should have no barriers. Offered monthly in partnership with Insight Memory Care Centers and the Inova Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center (IPMDC), our free workshops provide a safe, joyful, failure-free space for individuals managing Parkinson’s, dementia, or memory/movement challenges, along with their care partners.
Whether you’re looking for Improv for the Brain in Fairfax or Improv for Movement and Memory in Sterling, find our full schedule and registration steps below.
🗓️ Our Schedule:
Schedule Update for Fairfax Sessions
To avoid late-afternoon traffic and offer a more convenient time slot, Fairfax sessions have officially moved to the 4th Wednesday of each month at 1:00 PM. Sessions will no longer be held on Thursdays at 3:30 PM.
- 🆕 Improv for the Brain in Fairfax: 4th Wednesdays at 1:00 PM (3955 Pender Drive, Suite 100, Fairfax, VA)
- Improv for Movement and Memory in Sterling: 4th Thursdays at 1:00 PM (45945 Center Oak Plaza, Suite 190, Sterling, VA)
How to Register:
- Click the button below to open the Insight Event Calendar.
- Scroll down to the calendar search bar, type in “improv”, and hit enter.
- Click on the scheduled session block that appears to secure your spot!
Need help registering? Contact Insight at imcc@insightmcc.org or 703-204-4664.
About Our Applied Improv Sessions
Improv for Movement and Memory and Improv for the Brain are specialized recreational 1-hour workshops designed specifically for individuals managing Parkinson’s Disease, dementia, or other memory and movement challenges, alongside their dedicated care partners.
Created as an embodied, non-clinical healing arts initiative, this program uses lighthearted theater exercises to relieve isolation, foster spontaneous expression, and build authentic community connection. In 2025, we were honored to facilitate over 120 individual workshop experiences across 20 specialized sessions.
How It Works
Our 1-hour sessions focus entirely on the core improvisational principle of “Yes, and”—the practice of unconditionally accepting a shared reality and building upon it together. We strip away the pressure of getting things right and instead establish a failure-free environment where every response is treated as a gift.
Activities include:
- Low-Impact Warm-ups: Interactive group games performed in a supportive circle to spark immediate connection.
- Fictional & Abstract Storytelling: Playful exercises that bypass personal memory recall and lean fully into pure imagination (e.g., traveling to a fictional planet).
- Gibberish Exercises: Communication games that remove the pressure of verbal-linguistic processing, allowing participants to express emotion and connect deeply without struggling to find the right words.
Benefits of Applied Improv
While the primary goal of our workshops is to spread joy and create a beautiful afternoon out, applied improvisation activates powerful cognitive and physical benefits:
- Breaking the Stress Cycle: Hearty, social laughter acts as a natural painkiller by triggering endorphins and rapidly lowering cortisol (stress hormone) levels.
- Relieving Cognitive Fatigue: By quietening the brain’s critic, participants experience a state of creative flow that reduces the anxiety of self-censorship.
- Countering Isolation: Chronic conditions can feel deeply isolating. Our collaborative, co-creative environment offers care partners and participants a shared space to laugh, bond, and support one another.
Voice of our Community
“My husband said that he especially liked the exercise where we had to carry on a conversation in gibberish, because he didn’t have to worry about finding the right words. That’s been a challenging part of his Parkinson’s, and it was good to see he enjoyed doing that particular improv exercise.” — Anonymous, Care Partner
Our Trusted Partners
This program is proudly delivered in sustained collaboration with:
- Inova Health System (Inova Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center – IPMDC)
- Insight Memory Care Center (Sterling, VA and Fairfax, VA)
Header image credit: Dean Mitchell/Getty Images Signature via Canva.
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