Dance instructor Eve Fischberg readied her students on a recent Tuesday afternoon to step through some popular music of the 1970s with a goal of benefiting symptoms of Parkinson’s disease that many there have.
Parkinson’s disease is a type of movement disorder that can show itself through such symptoms as slowness of movement plus poor balance and coordination.
“Well, deep breath, everyone,” Fischberg said. “We have left the ’60s behind. ... However, we are now moving into the ’70s, and we’ve got a lot of really cool music from the ’70s — very diverse music from the ’70s. I tried to include the requests of as many people as I could ... so we’ll have both the Bee Gees and Joni Mitchell.”
The group laughed.
The Joy of Movement: Dance for Parkinson’s free dance class featured warm-up exercises, including breathing (good for diaphragms) and stretching that made way for learning steps to the disco dance “The Hustle” in a seated position. They’d progress throughout class to dancing while standing and then across the floor of the fellowship hall at First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh St.
“The basic hustle count is just a four count,” Fischberg said as she clapped the counts, “One, two, three, four.”
The group then marched it out while seated before learning another dance move. But then there was more.
“So, that’s what we’re going to do, only, we’re going to throw in a ball change (dance move of two steps), but we’re going to call it ‘rock step,’ ” Fischberg said.
The group marched while seated to Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move,” adding arm motions to the song’s lyrics, “I feel the sky tumbling down, a tumbling down ...”
“We survived,” Fischberg said at the song’s end. “Nice job. Nice job. And I kind of lost my way a little in there, but you all were very forgiving.”
Allowing room for error is part of the appeal of the class.
The class is for people with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders and their care partners. Dancers at any ability are welcomed to the classes held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the year in 12-week quarters.
The dancing is a social activity that breaks isolation for participant Kenna Diaz, 73, of Springfield, who was diagnosed in 2014 with Parkinson’s.
“I think that they have helped with my confidence, for one,” said Diaz, who has Festination Parkinson’s, in which her gait is characterized by quickening and shortening of normal strides.
“They also are a great social group. It’s wonderful to be with other people that understand what you’re going through and that don’t look at you weird when you can’t get up out of the chair, or something, because they’ve all had those kinds of days, too. I think it has helped balance.”
‘Dance for PD’
An occupational therapist, Fischberg formerly taught in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Lincoln Land Community College.
“As an occupational therapist, I was very familiar with working with people with Parkinson’s,” said Fischberg, whose father and father-in-law both had Parkinson’s and dementia. “Now it’s been almost 40 years since I started working as an OT, and I had been aware of the use of dance for people with Parkinson’s.
“One of the things that we do know about Parkinson’s is that the only thing that actually slows the progress of the disorder is physical exercise.”
One day while taking her father-in-law to an appointment at the Movement Disorders center at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Fischberg saw a flier about “Dance for PD,” a program that offers dance classes for people with Parkinson’s disease.
But Fischberg discovered the closest Dance for PD class was offered once a month at the Krannert Center in Urbana.
“It’s a fabulous thing, and it’s too far away,” said Fischberg, who lives west of Loami.
Eventually, Fischberg trained in Dance for PD. With the support of Advanced HealthCare Services home health agency, Fischberg started teaching dance classes for Parkinson’s disease in July 2016.
Uplifting group
Each class of The Joy of Movement has room for 12 people who have Parkinson’s and their significant others and care partners.
“Each of them has a neurotypical partner, someone who does not have Parkinson’s, and has pretty good balance and so on so that they’re not going to fall,” said Fischberg, who added dance participants either come with someone or are paired with a volunteer.
Each 12-week series has a theme. The current theme is “Dancing through the Decades.” The classes started with the 1940s.
“When I had people register for the class, I said, ‘Give me some songs or some musicians that you really enjoyed, groups that you enjoyed when you were in your younger years,’” Fischberg said.
Before the start of a recent Tuesday class, Fischberg greeted participants with enthusiasm.
“There’s Jack. Hello, Jack. Good to see you, man. How are you?” Fischberg said.
“Doing good,” said Jack Kriel, as he prepared to sign in and attach a name tag to his shirt.
Kriel, 76, lives in Springfield and has been participating in the Parkinson’s dance class since the beginning.
Kriel said that dancing helps his rhythm.
“It’s a great group. You have the physical moving around, and then you have the rhythm and also you have the social,” said Kriel, a retired contractor, who added his favorite musical decade is the 1960s, “although the ’40s were pretty cool, too.”
The remainder of class included dancing to upbeat music that Fischberg slowed down just a bit.
“Because it’s really fast. It’s really fast. ... It’s ‘September’ by Earth, Wind & Fire,” Fischberg said.
“Yes!” someone exclaimed.
Kathy Thompson of Springfield has found that her husband, Rich’s, balance is better because of participating in the dance class.
“The group itself is so loving. It just uplifts you to be among these people, and yes, the balance is better because of it, and it has been very good, and Eve is terrific,” she said.
Contact Tamara Browning: tamara.browning@sj-r.com, 788-1534, twitter.com/tambrowningSJR.
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Want more info?
WHAT: The Joy of Movement: Dance for Parkinson’s is a dance class for people with Parkinson’s disease and related disorders and their significant others and care partners (partners aren’t required).
WHEN: Classes are held every week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the year. The next 12-week series will start on July 9, and continue through Sept. 26. Classes take place from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and from 10 to 11:15 a.m. Wednesdays.
WHERE: Classes are held at First Presbyterian Church, 321 S. Seventh St.
INFO: There is no fee to participate in the class, but registration is required. To register or for more information about whether or not a class is full, contact Eve Fischberg at 494-4961 or joyofmovement2@gmail.com.
No prior dance experience is necessary. All levels of ability are welcome.
The Joy of Movement: Dance for Parkinson’s needs volunteers. Volunteers should have good balance and enjoy working with people.
The classes are supported by the American Parkinson Disease Association, Greater St. Louis Chapter. Tuesday classes are provided through a grant from Memorial Medical Center Foundation and Thursday classes are funded by a grant from the King’s Daughters Organization Fund at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln. In-kind support has been provided by the First Presbyterian Church and Historic Grace Lutheran Church.
The group’s website is https://thejoyofmovement.org.
https://www.lincolncourier.com/news/20190608/parkinsons-dance-program-keeps-students-moving
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