Movement reduces symptoms

Studio offers dance class for those with Parkinson’s disease


BIG STRETCH— Dottie Moser, left, Terry Siegel, Deanna Hallum, Jean Amador and Joan Mendonsa add a new dance move to their choreography during the Dance Over Parkinson’s class at High Studio in Moorpark on April 15. Hallum and Amador, who owns the High Street studio, teach the weekly dance class.

BIG STRETCH— Dottie Moser, left, Terry Siegel, Deanna Hallum, Jean Amador and Joan Mendonsa add a new dance move to their choreography during the Dance Over Parkinson’s class at High Studio in Moorpark on April 15. Hallum and Amador, who owns the High Street studio, teach the weekly dance class.

With one arm outstretched and her fingers pointed gracefully toward the ceiling, Jean Amador sat sideways at the edge of a chair, her body bending to form a delicate pose.

Slowly and calmly, her students mimicked the movement to the best of their abilities. They held the pose for a few seconds, then relaxed their limbs in preparation for the next stretch.

The Dance Over Parkinson’s class at High Studio, a dance, fitness and art studio in Moorpark, follows the same structure as any other dance class.

First, there’s a warm- up, which involves stretching out the muscles and finding balance. Second comes the choreography, where Amador and her co-instructor, Deanna Hallum, teach the day’s routine.

The big difference between this class and others at the High Street dance studio is that these students have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a chronic and progressive disorder of the brain that damages the nervous system and affects movement.

Nearly 1 million Americans have the neurological disorder, and the number continues to rise by about 50,000 annually, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

Amador, who owns High Studio, formed the weekly class last year after attending a neuroscience meeting at Northridge Hospital with her mother, Joan Mendonsa, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s 21 years ago.

During that meeting, the mother and daughter met Laura Karlin, who runs a Parkinson’s dance class at a studio in Venice, Calif.

“When we met her and heard about her program, I thought, ‘I could do this,’” Amador said. “So I made arrangements to go to her program just to participate and see what was going on with it.

“(Hallum) and I went together every week for a few months, and eventually we got organized and understood the structure . . . and started the program here.”

While consulting with Karlin, Amador also connected with the creators of Dance for Parkinson’s Disease, the original program jointly developed by the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Parkinson’s Association of New York.

Amador was certified through Dance for PD’s official training program, and now High Studio is a registered affi liate.

Making connections

Since officially launching the Parkinson’s dance class last summer, the Moorpark studio has attracted several participants from the surrounding area.

Amador’s mother, a Westlake Village resident, is one of the regulars.

“( Dancing) opens up new routes in the brain,” said Mendonsa, who also serves as assistant state director of the Parkinson’s Action Network, an advocacy organization. “ Things we don’t normally do, we’re doing here (in the dance class). And that opens up the ability to connect neural pathways.”

Parkinson’s, which has no known cure, attacks vital cells in the brain that produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is required to control movement.

The lack of dopamine in Parkinson’s patients is what is believed to cause the most common symptoms, such as tremors, balance issues, slowness of voluntary movements, muscle stiffness and slurred speech.

Although medications may help to mask the symptoms and slow the progression of the disease, one of the most effective ways to manage Parkinson’s is to exercise.

“Researchers have proven that exercise is the only thing that helps our symptoms,” said Moorpark resident Terry Siegel, a regular participant in the Parkinson’s dance class. “It’s almost like a medicine.”

According to Amador, dancing takes exercise to a higher level.

Besides preventing the muscles from atrophy, dancing helps make neural connections in the brain, she said.

“Dancing triggers into the brain differently than regular exercise does, with the music and the movement,” the studio owner said. “With the combination of the traditional training of dancers and the whole visualizing and choreography that dancers typically do, all of those structures work really well with Parkinson’s.”

Hallum said dancing also helps improve core strength and balance.

“ We even work on techniques for dealing with freezing (a temporary inability to move) and different situations that come up with Parkinson’s,” the dance instructor said. “We incorporate that into our training.”

Dottie Moser of Westlake Village, another member of the class, said she joined the program after hearing about it from her doctor.

“Everything that (the instructors) talked about, it’s true,” Moser said. “The balance, everything. It’s wonderful.”

The Dance Over Parkinson’s class at High Studio takes place from noon to 1 p.m. every Monday. The studio, at 11 E. High St. in Moorpark, also offers a Parkinson’s yoga class from noon to 1 p.m. on Wednesdays.

For information or to sign up for classes, call (805) 876-4740 or visit www.high-studio.com.


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