Throughout this site, you’ll see bracelets of red yarn on the wrists of our dancers.
These bracelets help those with PTSD and brain injury remember which hand to use when we do simple figures like a right-hand star or an allemande right. This practice began with the Fort Knox dance series.
Group Photo, Fort Knox Dance Series (Photo Credit: Deborah Denenfeld)
We offered these bands to dancers to help them with memory: red for right hand. At first, only dancers with PTSD or brain injury took the bands, but then everyone wanted to wear one. Some even wore theirs outside the group. The musicians joined in, too, tying them to their instruments in a sign of solidarity.
The bands gradually became our uniform, uniting us and becoming a badge of pride. For those who didn’t suffer from PTSD or brain injury, they served as a reminder not of right or left but of the special challenges faced by other dancers.
“At first it was only people with PTSD or BI who took the bands, but soon everyone wanted one, whatever the state of their memory. We were a team, all in this together, and this was our uniform.”
In every group since then, these simple bands have helped veterans, family members, and volunteers come together, creating a special sense of community and solidarity, much in keeping with the mission and vision of Dancing Well.