Erica Portell, a dance instructor at Oklahoma City Ballet, leads a Dance for Parkinson’s class.
People who suffer from Parkinson's disease, a progressive disease of the nervous system, struggle with movement. With symptoms like tremors, difficulty of speech, and difficulty in walking, Parkinson’s disease can cause sufferers to lose trust in their body’s ability to function properly. One Oklahoman is working to give those with Parkinson's disease a revitalized sense of confidence and increased mobility – through dance.
Erica Portell is a dance instructor at Oklahoma City Ballet, and cannot remember a time in her life when she was not dancing. She grew up training in New York City and performed on television, on cruise lines, and in Las Vegas. When she moved to Oklahoma City to teach for Oklahoma City Ballet, her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
“When my dad was in his early fifties, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” Portell said. “It was a rapid progression from there - he needed a walker to move and it was difficult for him to speak and eat. However, we discovered music and dancing made a positive impact on his ability to function. It made walking easier for him and overall movement.”
That was when Portell began researching specialized dance classes for those with Parkinson's disease and learned that they were happening across the country and were incredibly effective.
“I knew I wanted to make this happen in Oklahoma, but I didn’t know how,” Portell said. “But then, we received a grant and I was able to go to a specialized training in New York City, taught by professionals who were doing this in other states, to bring a Dance for Parkinson’s class to Oklahoma.”
According to Portell, when she finally brought the class to Oklahoma City in August of 2017, it proved to be an amazing success beyond her wildest dreams.
“I knew that dance had an amazing impact on my life. It taught me all of the happiest things, the lessons that made me successful as an adult, and to find beauty in things that are difficult,” Portell said. “People with Parkinson’s disease are in situations where they do not trust their bodies to do what it is supposed to do, and dance teaches you to trust your body again and have a new respect for it through movement. We dance because we are human beings.”
A typical class begins in a circle, with the option to sit or stand. Using upbeat and fun music, the Dance for Parkinson’s class encourages fluidity and accessibility to the participant. Participants can use walkers, stay seated, or move around if they choose. Portell says that a goal of the class is for the participants to feel more regained control of their bodies and to translate the movements they learn into everyday life while having fun at the same time.
“At no point during this method of interacting is there a patient-doctor relationship – they aren’t seen as broken and need to be fixed,” Portell said. “It’s therapeutic in its results, but not in the way of ‘you’re broken and I need to fix you’ – we are just dancing together and being free human beings without judgment. I love that this class gives them this opportunity to be productive without being seen as if something is wrong with them.”
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While teaching a class like this has been a major success for Portell, it does not come without challenges.
“My dad passed away last year from complications from Parkinson’s,” Portell said. “Teaching the class is the thing that heals me the most but also breaks me the most. When I see my students have symptoms that he had, it brings me joy that I can be healing with them, but it also reminds me of him and his struggles with the disease.
Honoring her father in this way feels like a special gift to Portell.
“It is incredibly rewarding to see the students come and participate,” Portell said. “Some students want a physical challenge and go all in, and some just want to sit and watch and not participate, but then they hear music that they are familiar with and realize that it will be physically challenging but also fun at the same time. Through this class, they have built communities where they are supportive of each other.”
Each class ends with the participants standing/sitting in a circle, squeezing each other’s hands one by one and looking into one another’s eyes as they do so, signifying they are not alone in their struggles.
“When they leave class, every single student shows an increase in basic functions like opening doors and maneuvering, and they have more confidence doing those things because of the trust they have in their bodies,” Portell said. “I love seeing the difference between when they leave and when they come into class."
According to those watching the class, the participants gain so much confidence through dance that their symptoms sometimes cannot be seen while they are participating.
“We had a woman come in to watch the class to see if she wanted to participate,” Portell said. “After seeing how the class went, she said ‘this class looks so fun, but when is the class for people with Parkinson’s?’ and I told her that it was the class for people with Parkinson’s.
She was shocked by the mobility that the participants had gained through dancing in the class.”Oklahoma City Ballet, site of the Dance for Parkinson’s class, is an Allied Arts member organization.
“Because of Allied Arts grants, this class is offered for free,” Portell said. “Parkinson’s disease care is expensive. In addition to the expenses, they also have a lot on their plates in their day-to-day lives. You can simply come to class – you don’t need to register or pay a fee – we like to keep it simple.”
Additionally, community funds provided Portell with the opportunity to learn from professionals who work with people with Parkinson’s disease, ensuring that she can provide them optimal care through the class.
“Being able to go to the training was what made this class possible,” Portell said. “Knowing how to do this safely and how to best serve them has made a big difference in how I can serve and teach them. It is a miracle that Allied Arts has been able to make this possible. I would not have been able to make this happen without the proper training.
”As a united arts fund, Allied Arts works to increase support for the arts by raising financial support for cultural organizations, encouraging participation and attendance, advocating for arts education and promoting excellence in the arts and arts management. The organization has served as the champion of central Oklahoma’s arts community and raised more than $67 million on behalf of arts organizations since 1971.
A donation to Allied Arts supports more than 40 organizations that are championing the arts in the community.
This means access to the arts for youth, the elderly, veterans, the sick and hospitalized, and other underserved groups. Funding from the Allied Arts annual campaign for the arts, which runs through June, reaches more than 1 million people each year in all 77 Oklahoma counties.
According to Portell, donating to Allied Arts is a way to support people who have invested their time, resources and expertise to benefit our community and are now in need.
“These people have lived long, rich lives,” Portell said. “I have a doctor, a lawyer, a professor, and teachers in my class – they have raised families and supported communities. This is a chance for us to support them and make their lives and our community richer. There is no other outlet like this. So much of Parkinson’s disease is heartbreak and challenge for those who suffer with it. Art can be such a source of healing for these people. Without Allied Arts, we wouldn't even be able to have this program, and that would be such a loss.”
Every gift to Allied Arts makes a difference in increasing access to the arts for more Oklahomans: $25 covers 50 dance lessons for an underserved student whose family cannot afford dance training, while $100 employs a sign language interpreter to bring performances to life for hearing-impaired patrons. $500 provides Alzheimer’s or dementia patients with healing hands-on visual arts experiences and $1,000 provides scholarships to a week-long art camp for five children from economically disadvantaged families.
The Dance for Parkinson’s class takes place on Mondays from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Susan E. Brackett Dance Center (6800 N. Classen Boulevard). Starting on June 10, classes will take place Mondays and Thursdays from 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. For more information, contact Stephanie Pitts at Stephanie@okcballet.com.
Join Allied Arts in supporting the arts and cultural community across central Oklahoma by donating at alliedartsokc.com/donate or by calling (405)278-8944.
For more information, visit alliedartsokc.com.
http://newsok.com/article/5630958/dance-a-surprising-source-of-therapy-for-oklahomans-with-parkinsons-disease
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