'You'll want to speed the shutter up,' says a man named Brian Baker, gesturing to a photographer who has come to document his dance class for the day. Baker is one of about a dozen adults who gather to dance each week at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center .
“You’ll want to speed the shutter
up,” says a man named Brian Baker, gesturing to a photographer who has come to
document his dance class for the day.
“Otherwise,” he adds with a smile,
“you’re going to get a lot of blur.”
Baker is one of about a dozen
adults who gather to dance each week at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center. They come
as singles and couples, some retired and some still in their working years.
Though their lives are colored by their various backgrounds and experiences,
the participants share one thing in common: they’re all living with Parkinson’s
disease, or accompanying someone who has it.
The disease affects each of them
differently. Some experience the hand tremors that could photograph with “a lot
of blur;” others have trouble balancing. Some speak with ever-softer voices or
walk in ever-smaller steps; others struggle with feelings of isolation or
depression.
But at their weekly Dance for Parkinson's class, the participants
gather to simply stretch, move and have fun.
The Oregon chapter’s co-director
and co-instructor, Virginia Belt, said the activity “tosses up” the idea of
what a support group can be.
“It’s simply ... a place for
people to come with a chronic illness, where the activity (is) not about the
illness,” she said.
KELSEY O'HALLORAN - Virginia Belt (front) leads a marching line around the room during a Dance for Parkinsons class. Belt, who has had relatives with Parkinsons, co-founded the program's Oregon branch in 2011.
‘Use it or lose it’
Belt and Madeleine Denko-Carter
launched Dance for Parkinson’s Oregon in 2011 after receiving training from the
national organization based in Brooklyn, NY. In addition to their class at the
MJCC, they teach in several other locations throughout the city, including the
Russellville Park and Willamette View retirement communities in Southeast
Portland.
According to the National Parkinson
Foundation, Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative brain
disorder that typically progresses slowly. With Parkinson’s, “a person’s brain
slowly stops producing a neurotransmitter called dopamine,” a statement on the
organization’s website reads. “With less and less dopamine, a person has less
and less ability to regulate their movements, body and emotions.”
While the disease itself isn’t
fatal, complications, such as falling due to progressive loss of balance, can
lead to serious injury or death. Though there is currently no cure for
Parkinson’s, research has suggested that exercise may slow the disease’s
progression, said Laurie King, a doctor and researcher specializing in
Parkinson’s at Oregon Health and Science University.
“We think it slows the mobility
decline,” King says. “There’s sort of a principle of ‘use it or lose it’ with
your brain; that’s how neurons work.”
For Parkinson’s patients, King
said, the tendency might be to avoid a difficult physical activity such as
dance. But she encourages her patients to pursue these activities, which could
help sustain their balance and movement abilities for as long as possible.
“When you stop doing tasks, your
brain sort of unlearns them,” she says. “Even if you don’t have Parkinson’s,
you should be exercising — but especially (if you have) Parkinson’s.”
Dance is particularly beneficial,
King said, because it incorporates cognition with movement, such as stepping
backward or sideways. And patients who experience “freezing of gait” may find
that thinking about a musical beat or cue from dance class can help them get
“unfrozen,” she said.
To really experience the benefits
of exercise, King recommends that Parkinson’s patients start working out early
— “like right when (they) get diagnosed.”
Shared energy
Exercise — and, specifically,
dance classes — can seem intimidating at first, Denko-Carter admitted.
“Some people, I think, they hear
about it and they go, ‘Oh, that’s not for me. I don’t like dancing,’” she said.
“Then they come and they find out that everybody’s really nice, and it’s not
threatening, and they keep coming.”
Participants begin class sitting
in a circle of chairs, following Denko-Carter or Belt as they make wide arm
movements.
Sometimes the instructors
incorporate vocal activities to help participants with “getting their voice
out,” Denko-Carter said, since it’s common for Parkinson’s patients’ voices to
become quieter over time.
As participants warm up, the
instructors move into foot and leg stretches and then lead everyone to their
feet so that they can practice slow, ballet-style movements to help with
balance and turning.
A variety of music plays during
the class, from classical to jazz to country. Sometimes instructors lead a
partner activity that allows the participants to interact and practice moving
together. Other times, they try theater games or improvisation activities.
At the end of the session, the
classmates hold hands in a circle and “pass the energy” around the circle by
squeezing the hand of the person next to them.
“Bravo, everybody,” Denko-Carter
tells the class, and they raise their hands and applaud one another.
The group exudes enthusiasm and
positivity, from the smiling instructors to the easygoing participants. The
class is free and instructors encourage participants to bring a friend or
spouse with them as often as they like.
Participant Tom Rocks has been
coming to the class for two years in addition to his daily gym workouts, in
hopes that exercise will hold off the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which he
was diagnosed with about four years ago.
So far the disease has affected
his speech and his walking gait. Still, it could be worse, he said.
“If you’ve seen one person with
Parkinson’s, you’ve seen one person with Parkinson’s,” he said. “Everybody’s
different in the way that they handle it.”
While no two Parkinson’s patients
experience the disease in quite the same way, Rocks said he’s found a sense of
camaraderie among his Dance for Parkinson’s classmates and instructors.
Virginia Belt (front) leads a marching line around the room during a Dance for Parkinsons class. Belt, who has had relatives with Parkinsons, co-founded the program's Oregon branch in 2011.
“We share the same problem,” he
said. “Everyone understands each other’s situation.”
He said he’s thankful for his
instructors’ knowledge and dedication to the program.
Both Belt and Denko-Carter have
had relatives who were diagnosed with Parkinson’s, which helps contribute to
the class’s supportive and laid-back atmosphere. Plus, the women simply enjoy
leading dancers — their professional dance backgrounds include years of
performing and teaching prior to joining this program.
“It’s such a joy for both of us —
dance and music,” Denko-Carter said of leading the classes. “We just want to
bring the joy of it to other people, and those people just happen to have
Parkinson’s.”
For more information about the
program, visit: danceforparkinsons.org.
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/244-health/313717-188579-dancers-discover-how-to-move-with-parkinsons
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