Getting to move again

That’s definitely not David Taffet dancing with Bruce Wood Dance Company. That’s not him sitting on the floor. And that’s definitely not him leaping into the air. But after participating in the BWDC class specifically with Parkinson’s Disease, Taffet says he can turn his head twice as far as before. (Photo courtesy Bruce Wood Dance.)

I pliéd. But I’m not quite ready to dance with the full company. Not yet anyway.

OK, so this is an update on my Parkinson Disease — or PD, as we like to call it. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything about it, but I was first diagnosed about two years ago.

At my last semi-annual exam, my neurologist upped my dosage of medication by a pill a day. Carbidopa levodopa, the pill that replaces dopamine the brain is no longer releasing, deals with some of the symptoms of PD but doesn’t stop the progression of the disease itself. So, I’m up to four pills a day now, and that mostly deals with the stiffness I feel most of the time.

My neurologist also prescribed physical therapy. He’s suggested it before, and I’ve mostly not listened to him.

At the same time, Cole Vernon, a Bruce Wood dancer, told me they were starting a PD movement class. So I had a choice: physical therapy in a setting that looks like a combination gym and doctor’s office in a professional building, or a dance class at the Bruce Wood Dance studio in the Design District.

Now if you’re wondering which I chose, let me drop a few hints. I’ve never worked out in a gym. The only really strenuous physical exercise I’ve ever gotten was riding my bicycle in the AIDS rides about 20 years ago. Actually, I rode from Houston to Dallas twice, so that was a physical accomplishment. Each ride included a 100-mile day that I completed.

But that was with other LGBTQ+ people, not physical therapists and doctors in a gym setting.

But a dance class wasn’t the obvious choice either. I’m a terrible dancer. Always have been.

Always will be. And the stiffness from PD makes things worse. And when I looked up the cast of Bruce Wood dancers, I realized their average age is 50 years younger than me — OK. I’m exaggerating — 45 years younger.

But doing nothing wasn’t a choice, so I made the rational and obvious gay man’s choice — the Bruce Wood PD Movement Class. I signed up, and I showed up for the first Saturday afternoon class.

The class was led by Domingo Estrada, a certified PD dance instructor who works with the Dallas Area Parkinson Society. He had us begin seated on a folding chair. That was good, because I can’t always get up from the floor without help, and I can’t stand in position for any length of time.

From the chair we began to move.

I could watch everyone in the floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall mirror. And I was — as expected — terrible. Estrada would say, “Stretch your right arm out,” and I stretched my left arm out.

And when he’d say, “Stretch your left arm and right leg,” I stretched my right arm and right leg. At least I got the leg correct.

When I realized how terrible I was at this, I just began laughing. But the point wasn’t precision dance. The point was stretching.

And I did gain a new level of respect for the Bruce Wood Dance troop. I imagine when Joy Bollinger, their artistic director and principal choreographer, says “right arm,” it does matter.

You know what I did well? Plié. Dipping as I bent both knees at the same time. That one I got.

But I made it through an hour and a half of stretching — and dancing — to music. I even made it through the second half of the class, which involved standing. Through most of it, I had a chair in front of me to grab onto when I needed it. But for the final dances, I made it through without that crutch.

And now, two days later, after practicing a few of the moves at home, I can turn my neck twice as far as I could before taking my first class. And I can raise my arms without pain.

And I can stand still longer without any support.

That was after just one class.

So I’ll be at the next class, eager to see what the results will be.

It feels so great to be able to bend and stretch and move without pain, I may just have to change careers and join Bruce Wood Dance after all — well, someone needs to paint the scenery.

After all, those dancers are still almost 50 years younger than I am.

Contact David Taffet at Taffet@DallasVoice.com.