Keep dancin'!

Physical activity has been encouraged on a national level since the 1950s. The Surgeon General's report, Physical Activity and Health, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 1996, gives strong supporting evidence of the physical, psychological, and social benefits of exercise at every age.

PHYSICALLY

The Surgeon General's report of 1996 encourages men and women of every age to make physical activity a regular and sustainable part of their lives. The physiological benefits of exercise most widely appreciated are its effects on the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems, and on the functioning of metabolic, endocrine, and immune systems. Most encouraging is the finding that people of all ages, both male and female, undergo beneficial physiological adaptations to physical activity.

Recommendations from the ten major federal and nonfederal organizations that were partners in the report agree that physical activity--especially weight-bearing exercise, as in dancing--should be performed daily and regularly at a minimum of thirty minutes at moderate intensity, increasing gradually in endurance and intensity for greater benefits, and that this activity should include strength-developing exercises, such as using weights, at least twice each week for adults to improve musculoskeletal health. Muscular strength helps to maintain independence in performing the activities of daily life and reduces the risk of falling. (Jeanne Calment, of Arles, France, the longest-lived person on record, rode her bicycle every day, quit smoking at age 117, and passed away at age 122 in 1997.)

Exercise creates benefits similar to those of good nutrition. Physical activity appears to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety and actually to improve one's mood. As every dancer knows, however, the benefits of exercise, such as endurance, may decrease daily when physical activity is substantially reduced; beneficial effects can begin to diminish within two weeks and can disappear completely within two to eight months if physical activity is not resumed.

Statistically, 22 percent of adults engage in physical exercise five times a week for at least thirty minutes while 15 percent engage in vigorous physical activity regularly three times a week for at least twenty minutes. The study reveals that the 25 percent who engage in no activity at all would benefit considerably by adding exercise to their weekly routine.

GERONTOLOGICALLY

Dr. Dorothy Fabian, Ed.D., a research gerontologist associated with the Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City, describes the lessening functions to which the aging are prone: "Although all of these ailments depend to an extent upon genetic inheritance and may occur at any age to a greater or lesser degree, the most common manifestations are reduced flexibility, slower reflexes, shortness of breath, changes in balance, and discomfort or pain in joints. Other indications may include arthritis and osteoporosis, [males experience loss of bone density at a later age and to a lesser degree], seeing and hearing impairments, changes in elimination and digestion, memory slips [forgetting where you put house keys is okay; forgetting your name is cause for concern], and the more serious ailments concerning the body's organs."

Fabian recommends exercise to alleviate or improve functioning in these areas, except for seeing and hearing problems, which are not directly affected by exercise.

"Feet usually suffer," she says, "from claw-shaped hammer toes, as well as from bunions--a congenital condition--and there may be a change in the gait to walking side to side instead of straight forward, as a result of difficulty with balance.

"Many of the elderly," she continues, "suffer from depression or experience isolation and need the social interaction that comes with an exercise program."

What is a patient's frequent response to the suggestion of exercise? Fabian says they usually say it's "outrageous." Most patients cannot believe that physical exercise can help and think that it's too late in life to start a program more vigorous than walking. Inertia, depression, and a sedentary lifestyle can make enrolling in an exercise program at a community center or local "Y" seem too challenging.

PSYCHOLOGICALLY

Dr. Judith R. F. Kupersmith, M.D., psychiatrist, associate professor at Texas Tech School of Medicine, and former member of New York City Ballet, adds that the psychological rewards of physical activity are significant. "There is a positive body-brain connection," says Kupersmith, "that occurs as a result of physical exercise in the release of hormones--particularly the endorphins. These relieve stress, calm anxiety, and lessen depression. It has to be expected, at the later stages of life, that there will be losses, such as the death of a close person, changes in physical functioning, retirement from a career, or other forms of distress. Minor depression can be relieved through physical exercise. The normal reaction to grief should last only a few months. If, however, the loss is not acknowledged and depression persists, the reaction to the loss will be delayed and become more difficult to acknowledge. Prolonged depression should be investigated as a possible symptom of illness.

"Let's say that an older person wants to enroll in a dance class but fears that she or he would be criticized by family and peers with fixed ideas about proper behavior for the aging. A handout describing some of the many findings that indicate the value of weight-bearing exercise in lessening the effects of skeletal and muscular changes and controlling one's weight might offset such criticism.

"Get a checkup from your doctor before you begin. That's where you'll get the best current information on your physical possibilities and where you'll find a perfect response to the negative attitude of others. Just say: `My doctor suggested that I exercise.' Then do it.

"The first class is the hardest, because it involves the frustration of being able to comprehend mentally what you cannot as yet do physically. Even former dancers face this dilemma when they return to class at any age. No matter what their previous experience has been, the older student should remember that it takes a good many years in every dance form to make it look easy, and that an enthusiastic approach, one that anticipates pleasure, and may even be based upon fantasy, will eventually bring mastery over many of the physical challenges.

"You can add a social aspect to physical activity by using the buddy system. Take along a friend with whom to share experiences and encouragement. Read The Art of Play, (Brunner Mazel, Inc.), by Adam Blatner. Think of it all as a form of preventive medicine, which it is. (If only insurance companies could see exercise as preventive and therapeutic and allow for payment!)

"Don't be discouraged by the way you look in the classroom mirror. Wear loose clothing--a large T-shirt over your leotard or tights--and be sure you don't have a teacher who is indifferent to your needs, is superior or critical, or is unappreciative of your efforts. As a novice, you need to learn to help your teacher by knowing that dance and exercise are mastered by repeated practice and that the study of dance is through the doing and use of the eyes and ears. One should not interrupt the pace of the class by asking questions, but should wait for discussion after class."

Should you perform? Of course. There are several groups of older dancers throughout the country, who have never been professionals, performing for small audiences, who also have never been professionals. As for experience, you know how to be a parent or grandparent. Go ahead: make next year's Nutcracker at your local production an Act I with real parents.

IN THE CLASSROOM

"I love them," says Harry Woolever, who teaches a class of ageless students. "We are friends who dance." Some have been in his Friday and Monday classes at the Neubert Ballet Institute in Carnegie Hall since the 1950s.

Woolever's background in restaging Broadway musicals in Brazil and Israel and as performer and student gave him experience in a great many forms of movement. He studied ballet with Madame Anderson-Ivantsova, Edward Caton, and Valentina Peryaslavec; tap dance with Henry LeTang; and modern dance with Hanya Holm. Says Woolever, "Holm brought it all together for me--the physical, spatial, kinetic, and spiritual awareness that are the elements in the way I teach now." She, Sanford Meisner, Philip Burton, and Lehman Engel were founders of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, where Woolever is chairman of the dance department; he has taught there since its inception thirty-four years ago.

"I teach my class of older students at a slower pace, but with the same attention as my AMDA classes that prepare students for a profession in musical "heater."

SPECIAL CLASSES

Leah Harpaz teaches two different classes for "mature adults" at the Harkness Center for Dance in the 92nd Street Y in New York City. Twice weekly, Harpaz begins her exercise/movement/dance class for adults sixty and over with a standing warm-up, followed by one on the mat. The class proceeds to do folk, line, or circle dances in free style.

"They are terrific," says Harpaz, adding to the number of teachers who find mature students interesting and resilient. "They begin the class with complaints about their health, but by the time the class ends, they are floating out of the classroom."

Her second class is for persons with movement disorders. For these students, the warm-up often begins in a wheelchair and proceeds to a stand-up barre using the chair or a cane for support.

"My intent with these students," Harpaz explains, "is to correct their gait and posture and to provide movement fun by teaching social dances, such as the rumba and fox-trot. This class includes lawyers and doctors with movement disorders who know that this form of therapy can pay off in social benefits. Depression disappears as they enjoy their progess, however small."

Harpaz's extensive background as a performer in modern and folk dance companies, along with her study of ballet, has given her a trained eye. "My classes are the sum total of my experience," she says, "and my students continue to challenge me."