Magic

The magic of classical music and movement is ageless. In the enchantment of the ballet the young child becomes the fairy queen or king. The young adult is Juliet or Romeo. And the elderly is taken back to a time of beauty, romance and grace. I often hear comments like, "Oh, that brings back memories!" or "I feel like I could fly!" When asked why they wanted to dance didn't the dancers in the musical 'A Chorus Line' say, "It is because everybody is beautiful in the ballet!"I continue to marvel at how the elderly can be inspired by the simple concepts of this program. Once a connection is made with the individuals in the class many things are possible. The class will reflect the leaders enthusiasm and joy. Once their attention is drawn to the music their natural appreciation of it qualities of rhythm, melody and mood kick in and shows in their response. At this point the can be successfully encouraged to participate to the best of their ability and will achieve to their fullest potential.For example: Stella, a 90 something, very frail and in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease sat crumbled over the side of her wheel chair. I stroked her arm and spoke softly to her drawing her attention to the lovely waltz that was playing. She opened her eyes and allowed me to take her hand in mine. As I smiled looking into her eyes and began to gently move her arms with the music she become much more alert and smiled back with twinkling eyes. I call this technique "Eye to Eye, Hand to Hand, and Heart to Heart" After a few minutes of exercises she was sitting up straighter and was even able to respond to a few simple questions!Thats All for now. Please let me know what you think. I really do enjoy sharing my experience and knowledge.You may comment by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottum of this message. Or Email me at lehners1@yahoo.com
Sheila