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Stepping Away From Disease New York Daily News, NY Friday, September 3rd, 2004 Olie Westheimer is quick to point out that the soon-to-be-weekly dance classes the Brooklyn Parkinson Group holds at the Mark Morris Dance Group's Brooklyn offices are intended neither as exercise nor therapy. It's just about dance, she said. But if scientists one day show that dancing is indeed therapeutic for Parkinson's disease victims, then Brooklyn Parkinson Group founder and executive director Westheimer; Nancy Umanoff, executive director at Mark Morris, and Morris dancers John Heginbotham and David Leventhal get the credit they deserve. Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder. According to the National Parkinson's Disease Foundation Web site, its primary symptoms are tremor of the hands, arms, legs, jaw and face; rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; slowness of movement and postural instability or impaired balance and coordination. Westheimer founded the Brooklyn Parkinson Group two years ago, in part to help her husband, Dr. Ivan Bodis-Wollner, director of the Clinical Center of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease at Kings County Hospital/SUNY Downstate Medical Center. He was creating a support group for his patients. A dance devotee - but not a professional dancer - for much of her life, Westheimer said it just came to her one day that dance would be an excellent activity for people with Parkinson's. "Everyone always refers to people with Parkinson's disease as patients," Westheimer said. "I wanted to do something that defined them as people, not patients. "Parkinson's is a disease of the mind, not the muscles. Dance is something you have to think about. You have to figure out where you want to move and how you want to move. I felt there was some connection there." There also was some convergence involved. Westheimer had read how Mark Morris recently built and moved into its Brooklyn studios - on Lafayette St., one block from the Brooklyn Academy of Music - and was looking for ways to become involved in the community. So Westheimer called Umanoff, who asked for more information on the group before sitting down for a 90-minute chat with Westheimer about the concept. "I told her if Mark Morris would do it, I could get some money to fund it," Westheimer said. "She said they would use their own money and people, and they did." Morris company dancers Leventhal, 30, and Heginbotham, 33, signed on to lead the classes and enlisted William Wade, a Morris pianist, to play live music at each session. "It's sort of an all-encompassing class, including people with Parkinson's, their caregivers and the community," said Eva Nichols, Mark Morris' director of education. "This is a great class for everyone," Westheimer said. "At least for a moment, the caregivers and the person with Parkinson's can do something together that is not about the disease." The group met once a month for a time, but beginning this month, it will meet weekly. On Sept. 29, they will hold a Dance for Parkinson's Disease workshop at Mark Morris to introduce more people with the ailment, their families and caregivers to the dance. "We try to pick fun music, music that helps people move, from classical to show tunes to popular music," said Heginbotham. "The object is to get the dancers to unlock their bodies, which is something even professional dancers have to do." They chose choregraphy taken from company dance routines, as well as some created for the group. Dancers might be in wheelchairs or leaning on one another, the barre or the wall for support, David said. Still, he added, "It's amazing the difference you see in them from when class starts to when it ends. You see them moving better, and know they feel better, for at least that moment." Helping hand for Parkinson’s patients Parkinson's disease is chronic, meaning it persists over a long period of time, and progressive - the symptoms grow worse as time passes. Though the disease is not fatal, there is no cure. Boxer Muhammad Ali and actor Michael J. Fox have Parkinson's. The Brooklyn Parkinson Group was founded to enhance the everyday lives of families in Brooklyn affected by Parkinson's disease. The group has monthly meetings and a referral service to connect families with resources and information they need to cope. For information, call (718) 522-0553, or E-mail the group at [log in to unmask] SOURCE: New York Daily News, NY http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/v-pfriendly/story/228284p-196050c.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn