Ember Reichgott Junge
Ember Reichgott Junge, former Minnesota state senator, journalist, and nonprofit leader, is an attorney and broadcast political analyst. She is an alumna of the international cast of Up with People and a late-blooming ballroom dancer. Her book The Dance of Resilience: Transforming Lives and Staying Vibrant through Partner Dance was released January 13, 2026, distributed by Simon & Schuster.
I became aware of the Neuroarts Resource Community in writing my book and interviewing one of its advisory board members. I highlighted this impactful community in my "Call to Action" Section. Here's a summary of the book:
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Zestful living. Mental sharpness. Social interaction. Emotional well-being. Scientifically proven benefits for people living with depression, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. The Dance of Resilience reveals how these are just some of the many ways partner dance transforms lives. Through extraordinary stories of ordinary people across the human spectrum—woven with her own candid experiences—award-winning author and legislator Ember Reichgott Junge shows how partner dance sparks self-discovery, fosters a healthier lifestyle, and offers a powerful antidote to today’s growing “epidemic of loneliness.”
But Reichgott Junge goes even further, building a compelling case that dance should be recognized as an essential part of the insured and public health care systems. What if your doctor could prescribe twelve dance sessions—covered by insurance—to help ease anxiety or enhance cognitive function? It's happening. All we need is you.
Step into The Dance of Resilience—and discover your hidden resilience as you enter an unexpected life of purpose and heartwarming possibility.
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My first book, Zero Chance of Passage, won the 2013 Grand Prize for Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards and was cited as an expert resource in a 2025 US Supreme Court case after gaining prominence within the niche charter public school community. I view the Neuroarts Resource Center as a similar community for spreading the physical, social and mental health benefits of partner dance, and for joining me in advocating for the funding of dance and arts in the insurance and public policy arenas. It is all about the power of one plus one plus one...to build the collective power for all of us.
Interests
My book is intended to inspire more adults of all ages to partner dance and experience the many benefits we know so well in the neuroarts community. It is also a platform to make partner dance a part of our insurance and public funded health care systems in the US and beyond. How will the deeply personal narratives in the book benefit the partner dance and health communities?
• Inspire adults of all ages to start dancing
• Help new and returning dancers identify the unreasonable fears holding them back
• Showcase the connection between dance and whole-body well-being, improved mental health, and reactivated social life
• Demonstrate the power of partner dance in deepening relationships
• Create deeper acceptance in the medical community of the impact of dance on brain health through collaborations like our global Neuroarts Resource Center
• Educate insurance leaders, medical providers, and policymakers that funding dance sessions can reduce overall costs of healthcare for everyone
• Encourage the dance community to advocate for changing our pill-based US health care system by expanding Community as Medicine, Social Prescribing, and insurance-paid dance curricula
• Broaden our dance community with stories of dancers breaking through gender, disability, racial, and cultural barriers (real or perceived) in partner dance
Publication Date January 13, 2026 She Writes Press, distributed by Simon and Schuster
