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Strictly Come Square Dancing: Historian Digs Into Square Dance’s History – Speakeasy – WSJ

 
December 16, 2009, 8:00 AM
By Mary Pilon

Today’s Wall Street Journal takes a look at those struggling to save the last square dance. But where did square dancing come from?

Square dance caller and historian Phil Jamison may have found out. It’s taken the teacher of math and Appalachian studies at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., over 10 years to unearth pieces of the puzzle that have been missing for centuries.

He and other square dance historians say the story starts in France.

There, dances like quadrilles were all the rage in the late 18th century and like today’s square dances, featured four couples in a square. After the American Revolution, former colonials rejected all things British, including the country’s dances. More en vogue French instructors crossed the pond to teach their trendy moves. French terms like “do-si-do,” “allemande” and “promenade” still remain part of the modern square dancing lexicon.

The dances done in early America then didn’t have a “caller,” or someone who yells out the moves to dancers, like square dancing today. Rather, the expectation, Jamison says, was that dancers went to school, memorized the moves, then went to the ball.

Square dancing then was done mostly to live music, almost always played by African-American musicians. It’s believed that many of these musicians became callers due to the gap in literacy and formal training among slaves of the time. Jamison says he found evidence of an African-American caller dating back as early as 1819 in New Orleans. Other African-American dance moves, instruments like the banjo and fiddle, and call and response traditions were also incorporated, he says.

“Even though we don’t currently see the banjo, fiddles and square dancing as a part of African American culture,” Jamison says, “they once were.”

Calling gained popularity up and down the Appalachian range throughout the 1800s, Richard Severance, archive director of the Square Dance Foundation of New England, says.

Dancing numbers dwindled in the 19th century and opposition among religious groups of the time didn’t help recruiting, either. “There was a puritanical belief that you shouldn’t touch a young lady,” Severance says.

Later in the century, square dancing was replaced by couples dances like waltzes and polkas in city ballrooms. But square dancing still thrived in rural areas.

In the 1920s, Henry Ford became a promoter of the old style of square dancing, opening a ballroom in Michigan. Ford promoted the dance among his factory workers and their families, historians say. He thought having square dancing in schools helped children learn manners, exercise, values and grace. In 1928, save-squaredancing.com reports, boards of education across the country endorsed the Ford square dancing program. (Perhaps it is he who so many of us have to blame for our grade- and middle-school gym class trauma.)

Many soldiers took the dances overseas during World War II, Severance says. To this day, there are still square dancing communities worldwide, all still call in English.

Around the 1950s modern square dancing was standardized. Lessons, which are still taught today, comprise of 69 standard moves. When the Western attire of slacks and petticoats became the norm, it was considered casual compared to the formal tuxedoes and ballroom gowns of the time, Len Houle, president of the United Square Dancers of America says.

There are also “traditional” square dancers who base their moves more in the Appalachian style before the 1950s standardization. Today, traditionalists typically don’t require lessons and dance to live music rather than recordings. For many traditional dances, no lessons are required to enter.

Partially due to dwindling numbers, modern square dancing groups made pushes in the 1980s and 1990s to be considered the official dance or folk dance of the U.S. President Ronald Reagan made square dancing briefly the national folk dance from 1982-1983. The USDA has put its national campaign on hold for now, until the group finds a legislator to support the bill, Houle says. However, there are currently 31 states that have officially recognized square dancing.

And as reported today, the numbers of square dancers are dwindling again, from an estimated 1 million dancers in the late 1970s to around 300,000 according to the USDA. Recruitment efforts continue.

“The doors are open to anybody and everybody,” Houle says.

 

 

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Why do we like to dance–And move to the beat?

Columbia University neurologist John Krakauer busts a move and rolls out an answer to this query

THE THRILL OF TANGO: Scientists believe that dancing combines two of our greatest pleasures: movement and music.

 Image: © ISTOCKPHOTO/Guillermo Perales Gonzalez

Many things stimulate our brains’ reward centers, among them, coordinated movements. Consider the thrill some get from watching choreographed fight or car chase scenes in action movies. What about the enjoyment spectators get when watching sports or actually riding on a roller coaster or in a fast car?

Scientists aren’t sure why we like movement so much, but there’s certainly a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest we get a pretty big kick out of it. Maybe synchronizing music, which many studies have shown is pleasing to both the ear and brain, and movement—in essence, dance—may constitute a pleasure double play.

Music is known to stimulate pleasure and reward areas like the orbitofrontal cortex, located directly behind one’s eyes, as well as a midbrain region called the ventral striatum. In particular, the amount of activation in these areas matches up with how much we enjoy the tunes. In addition, music activates the cerebellum, at the base of the brain, which is involved in the coordination and timing of movement.

So, why is dance pleasurable?

First, people speculate that music was created through rhythmic movement—think: tapping your foot. Second, some reward-related areas in the brain are connected with motor areas. Third, mounting evidence suggests that we are sensitive and attuned to the movements of others’ bodies, because similar brain regions are activated when certain movements are both made and observed. For example, the motor regions of professional dancers’ brains show more activation when they watch other dancers compared with people who don’t dance.

This kind of finding has led to a great deal of speculation with respect to mirror neurons—cells found in the cortex, the brain’s central processing unit, that activate when a person is performing an action as well as watching someone else do it. Increasing evidence suggests that sensory experiences are also motor experiences. Music and dance may just be particularly pleasurable activators of these sensory and motor circuits. So, if you’re watching someone dance, your brain’s movement areas activate; unconsciously, you are planning and predicting how a dancer would move based on what you would do.

That may lead to the pleasure we get from seeing someone execute a movement with expert skill—that is seeing an action that your own motor system cannot predict via an internal simulation. This prediction error may be rewarding in some way.

So, if that evidence indicates that humans like watching others in motion (and being in motion themselves), adding music to the mix may be a pinnacle of reward.

Music, in fact, can actually refine your movement skills by improving your timing, coordination and rhythm. Take the Brazilian folk art, Capoeira—which could be a dance masquerading as a martial art or vice versa. Many of the moves in that fighting style are choreographed, taught and practiced, along with music, making the participants more adept—and giving them the pleasure from the music as well as from performing the movement.

Adding music in this context may cross the thin line between a killing machine and a dancing machine.

 

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Dancing Makes You Smarter

Dancing Makes You Smarter

 

 

Use It or Lose It:  Dancing Makes You Smarter


Richard Powers

For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. 
More recently we’ve seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with
its sense of well-being.

Then most recently we’ve heard of another benefit:  Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter.  A major study added to
the growing evidence that stimulating one’s mind can ward off Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can
keep the body fit.  Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages.

You may have heard about the New England Journal of Medicine
report on the effects of recreational activities on mental acuity in aging.   Here it is in a nutshell.

The 21-year study of senior citizens, 75 and older, was led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, funded by the
National Institute on Aging, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Their method for objectively measuring mental
acuity in aging was to monitor rates of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The study wanted to see if any physical or cognitive recreational activities influenced mental acuity.  They discovered that some
activities had a significant beneficial effect.  Other activities had none.

They studied cognitive activities such as reading books, writing for pleasure, doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and playing musical
instruments.  And they studied physical activities like playing tennis or golf, swimming, bicycling, dancing, walking for exercise
and doing housework.

One of the surprises of the study was that almost none of the physical activities appeared to offer any protection against dementia.  There
can be cardiovascular benefits of course, but the focus of this study was the mind.  There was one important exception:  the
only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.

            Reading – 35% reduced risk of dementia

            Bicycling and swimming – 0%

            Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week – 47%

            Playing golf – 0%

            Dancing frequently – 76%.

That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.

Quoting Dr. Joseph Coyle, a Harvard Medical School psychiatrist who wrote an accompanying commentary:

“The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities, are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based
upon their use.”

And from from the study itself, Dr. Katzman proposed these persons are more resistant to the effects of dementia as a result of having
greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses.  Like education, participation in some leisure activities
lowers the risk of dementia by improving cognitive reserve.

Our brain constantly rewires its neural pathways, as needed.  If it doesn’t need to, then it won’t.

            Aging and memory

When brain cells die and synapses weaken with aging, our nouns go first, like names of people, because there’s only one neural pathway
connecting to that stored information.  If the single neural connection to that name fades, we lose access to it.  So as we
age, we learn to parallel process, to come up with synonyms to go around these roadblocks.  (Or maybe we don’t learn to do this,
and just become a dimmer bulb.)

The key here is Dr. Katzman’s emphasis on the complexity of our neuronal synapses.  More is better.  Do whatever you can
to create new neural paths.  The opposite of this is taking the same old well-worn path over and over again, with habitual patterns
of thinking and living our lives.

When I was studying the creative process as a grad student at Stanford, I came across the perfect analogy to this:

            The more stepping stones there are across the creek,

            the easier it is to cross in your own style.

The focus of that aphorism was creative thinking, to find as many alternative paths as possible to a creative solution.  But as
we age, parallel processing becomes more critical.  Now it’s no longer a matter of style, it’s a matter of survival — getting
across the creek at all. 
Randomly dying brain cells are like stepping stones being removed one by one.  Those who had only one well-worn path of stones
are completely blocked when some are removed.  But those who spent their lives trying different mental routes each time, creating
a myriad of possible paths, still have several paths left.

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine study shows that we need to keep as many of those paths active as we can, while also generating new paths,
to maintain the complexity of our neuronal synapses.

            Why dancing?

We immediately ask two questions:

  • Why is dancing better than other activities for improving mental capabilities?

  • Does this mean all kinds of dancing, or is one kind of dancing better than another?

    That’s where this particular study falls short.  It doesn’t answer these questions as a stand-alone study.  Fortunately,
    it isn’t a stand-alone study.  It’s one of many studies, over decades, which have shown that we increase our mental capacity by
    exercising our cognitive processes.  Intelligence: Use it or lose it.  And it’s the other studies which fill in the gaps
    in this one.  Looking at all of these studies together lets us understand the bigger picture.

    Some of this is discussed here (the page you may have just came from) which looks at intelligence in dancing. 
    The essence of intelligence is making decisions.  And the concluding advice, when it comes to improving your mental
    acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory (retracing
    the same well-worn paths), or just working on your physical style.

    One way to do that is to learn something new.  Not just dancing, but anything new.  Don’t worry about the probability that
    you’ll never use it in the future.  Take a class to challenge your mind.  It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain
    by generating the need for new pathways.  Difficult and even frustrating classes are better for you, as they will create a greater
    need for new neural pathways.

    Then take a dance class, which can be even better.  Dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing your connectivity. 
    Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes.

                What kind of dancing?

    Let’s go back to the study:

                Bicycling, swimming or playing golf – 0% reduced risk of dementia

    But doesn’t golf require rapid-fire decision-making?  No, not if you’re a long-time player.  You made most of the decisions when
    you first started playing, years ago.  Now the game is mostly refining your technique.  It can be good physical exercise, but
    the study showed it led to no improvement in mental acuity.

    Therefore do the kinds of dance where you must make as many split-second decisions as possible.  That’s key to maintaining true intelligence.

    Does any kind of dancing lead to increased mental acuity?  No, not all forms of dancing will produce this benefit.  Not dancing
    which, like golf or swimming, mostly works on style or retracing the same memorized paths.  The key is the decision-making.  Remember
    (from this page),
    Jean Piaget suggested that intelligence is what we use when we don’t already know what to do.

    We wish that 25 years ago the Albert Einstein College of Medicine thought of doing side-by-side comparisons of different kinds of dancing, to
    find out which was better.  But we can figure it out by looking at who they studied: senior citizens 75 and older, beginning in
    1980.  Those who danced in that particular population were former Roaring Twenties dancers (back in 1980) and then former Swing Era dancers (today),
    so the kind of dancing most of them continued to do in retirement was what they began when they were young: freestyle social dancing — basic
    foxtrot, swing, waltz and maybe some Latin.

    I’ve been watching senior citizens dance all of my life, from my parents (who met at a Tommy Dorsey dance), to retirement communities, to the Roseland Ballroom in New York. 
    I almost never see memorized sequences or patterns on the dance floor.  I mostly see easygoing, fairly simple social dancing — freestyle lead and follow.  
    But freestyle social dancing isn’t that simple!  It requires a lot of split-second decision-making, in both the lead and follow roles.

          I need to digress here:

    I want to point out that I’m not demonizing memorized sequence dancing or style-focused pattern-based ballroom dancing.  I sometimes enjoy
    sequence dances myself, and there are stress-reduction benefits of any kind of dancing, cardiovascular
    benefits of physical exercise, and even further benefits of feeling connected to a community of dancers.  So all dancing is good.

    But when it comes to preserving mental acuity, then some forms are significantly better than others.  When we talk of intelligence (use it or
    lose it) then the more decision-making we can bring into our dancing, the better.

                Who benefits more, women or men?

    In social dancing, the follow role automatically gains a benefit, by making hundreds of split-second decisions as to what to do next.  As I mentioned
    on this page, women don’t “follow”, they interpret the signals their partners are giving them, and this requires
    intelligence and decision-making, which is active, not passive. 
    This benefit is greatly enhanced by dancing with different partners, not always with the same fellow.  With different dance partners, you have to adjust
    much more and be aware of more variables.  This is great for staying smarter longer.

    But men, you can also match her degree of decision-making if you choose to do so.  (1) Really notice your partner and
    what works best for her.  Notice what is comfortable for her, where she is already going, which moves are successful with her and what
    aren’t, and constantly adapt your dancing to these observations.  That’s rapid-fire split-second decision making.   (2) Don’t lead
    the same old patterns the same way each time.  Challenge yourself to try new things.  Make more decisions more often. 
    Intelligence: use it or lose it.

    And men, the huge side-benefit is that your partners will have much more fun dancing with you when you are attentive to their dancing and
    constantly adjusting for their comfort and continuity of motion.

                Dance often

    Finally, remember that this study made another suggestion: do it often.  Seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week
    had a measurably lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week.  If you can’t take classes or go out dancing four
    times a week, then dance as much as you can.  More is better.

    And do it now, the sooner the better.  It’s essential to start building your cognitive reserve now.  Some day you’ll need as many
    of those stepping stones across the creek as possible.  Don’t wait — start building them now.


    July 30, 2010

    Copyright © 2010 Richard Powers

 

More thoughts and musings


 

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Square Dance is a great way to have fun!

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Health Issues and Square Dancing

Health Issues and Square Dancing

Here is an article that talks about
dancing and
memory.

At the bottom of this page you will find links to
other pages
on the internet regarding dancing and health.

Rx for the Mind: Mind Games

A new study says playing games and doing puzzles wards off dementia,
supporting the use-it-or-lose-it theory.

Excerpt By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

 

WEDNESDAY, June 18 (HealthDayNews) — If you don’t use your mind
regularly through activities such as reading, doing puzzles or playing
a musical instrument, you risk losing some of your cognitive abilities
as you age.

That’s the message from a new study appearing in the June 19 issue
of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York
City found seniors who participated in mind-stimulating leisure
activities had a lower risk of developing the brain disease dementia.

“Subjects whose levels were in the top third of the cognitive
activity level had almost a 65 percent reduced risk of dementia,” says
study author Dr. Joe Verghese, an assistant professor of neurology at
Albert Einstein College.

The researchers measured cognitive activity levels by asking 469
people over the age of 75 what leisure activities they participated in,
and how often. All of the study participants lived in the Bronx, one of
New York City’s five boroughs.

Participating in a cognitive-stimulating activity one day a week
translated into one point on the cognitive activity level scale.

The researchers asked about a variety of activities, including
playing board games or cards, reading, writing for pleasure, playing a
musical instrument, doing crossword puzzles, participating in group
discussion, dancing, doing housework, walking, swimming, biking,
babysitting and participating in group exercise.

The cognitive activities that showed the greatest risk reduction
were reading, board games or cards, and playing a musical instrument.
Writing and participating in group discussions didn’t reduce the risk
of dementia. Physical activities, with the exception of dancing, didn’t
appear to greatly reduce the risk of dementia.

Every year, for an average of five years, the study participants
were evaluated. During the study period, 121 study volunteers developed
dementia.

By comparing those who developed dementia with those who didn’t, the
researchers found that for one point on the cognitive activity level
scale, there was a 7 percent reduction in the risk of dementia. People
in the highest third had a score of 11 points or higher. That means
they participated in mind-stimulating activities more than once a day
each week. Their risk of developing dementia was 63 percent lower than
people who scored in the lowest third of the cognitive activity level
scale.

Verghese says the researchers weren’t able to include past history
of these activities in this study.

One reason people might have scored low on the cognitive activity
level scale, according to Verghese, is that they could have the
beginnings of dementia, but not show outward signs of the disease. To
control for this possibility, Verghese and his colleagues re-examined
the data, excluding anyone who developed dementia in the first seven
years of the study, and the results still held true.

Dr. Joseph Coyle, who wrote an accompanying editorial, says this
study provides a remarkable contrast to more complex dementia research
that focuses on the specific changes that occur in the brain as
dementia develops. He says after looking at that complexities in some
of that research, it’s hard to believe that something as simple as
playing cards could ward off dementia.

Nevertheless, he says, the results of this study are convincing.
“Effortful mental activities may forestall the onset of dementia,” says
Coyle, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Harvard Medical
School.

Exactly how it occurs isn’t yet known, he says. But “participating
in these activities that use the brain may stimulate neurons to work
around the damage associated with the early stages of dementia,” he
says.

So for now, both experts say it’s a good idea to engage in
activities that stimulate your mind throughout your life.

More information

For more information on dementia, go to the National Institute on Aging. To
learn more about Alzheimer’s disease, visit the Alzheimer’s Association.

Check these web links out for more articles about health
and
dancing (Links valid as of November 22, 2012):

Click
here to go to NE Journal of Medicine
for the 2003 article
“Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly”

Click here
to go to NE Journal of Medicine
  a pdf article from 2003
“Walking Compared with Vigorous Exercise for the Prevention of
Cardiovascular Events in Women”

Click
here to go to Healthscout.com
for an article on exercise activities
that lift your mood.

Click
here to go to Healthscout.com
were you can find another article
about the benefits
of health and dancing.

Click
here to go to webmd.com
for an article on the unworkout, 7 ways to
get fit while having fun.

Click here to
see a
letter from the Mayo Clinic and Article by Dr. Arron Blackburn

Click
here

to see msn’s webmd article about square dancing being good for body and
mind.

Click
here

to see article Dance Your Way To Health

Click
here

to see article on dancing from UT-Houston Medical School

Click
here
to see MIT article on square dancing thriving and their
athletics
department giving physical education credit.  Note-Summer 2003
issue.

Click here
to see Go Ask Alice response to the benefits of dancing and your
wellness.

Click here to
see the Toe Dragger Project “Square Dancing for a Healthily Lifestyle”

Click here to see
article by Bryant A. Stamford, PH.D. and Lee Walker, M.D.


Click here
to see AARP’s article “Let’s Dance to Health”  

Click
here
to see an article on square dancing. (Not health specific, but
good PR
for square dancing)

Click here to
see UK square dancing health benefits.

Click
here
to see Wall Street Journal article that mentions
save-squaredancing.com

Click
here
to see Wall Street Journal article that is not health
specific, but good PR.

Click
here
for information on book Rhythmic Activities and Dance. 
Click here for general
dance information.

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Save Square Dancing All Rights Reserved.

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 For Physical & Mental Exercise, Plus Sociability.
Try Western Square Dancing.
It’s Friendship Set To Music

Are you interested in an activity that is drug and alcohol free and generally conducted in a smoke free environment. Where you can make many new friends and at the same time have fun, forget your troubles and get some exercise?

Modern Western Square Dancing may be just the activity you have been missing. According to a 1994 Mayo Clinic Health Letter

“dancing can burn as many calories as walking, swimming or riding a bicycle. During a half-hour of dancing you can burn between 200 and 400 calories. One factor that determines how many calories you’ll expend is the distance you travel. In, one study, researchers attached pedometers to square dancers and found that each person covered five miles in a single evening. Regular exercise can lead to a slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and improved cholesterol profile. Experts typically recommend 30 – 40 minutes of continuous activity three or four times a week. Dancing may not provide all the conditioning you need, but it can help. The degree of cardiovascular conditioning depends on how vigorously you dance, how long you dance continuously, and how regularly you do it. The side to side movements of many dances strengthens your weight bearing bones (tibia, fibula and femur) and can help prevent or slow loss of bone mass (osteoporosis). If you’re recovering from heart or knee surgery, movement may be part of your rehabilitation. Dancing is a positive alternative to aerobic dancing or jogging. And finally, Square Dancing contains a social component that solitary fitness endeavors don’t. It gives you an opportunity to develop strong social ties that contribute to self-esteem and a positive outlook.

If your doctor has advised you to start an aerobic exercise program, Square Dancing can be a fun part of it.  Square Dancing enhances blood flow and gets your heart and lungs working.  Just be sure to get your doctor’s permission if you have a medical condition.


This pastime is a perfect way to forget your troubles, because it is virtually impossible to think of anything else while you square dance. This is because of the mental requirements of this activity. I feel sure you agree that keeping your mind sharp is essential in today’s world.
So what are these mental requirements? Let’s take a quick look.
Modern Western Square Dancing consists of layers, or levels of dance. At the bottom, where we all start, is Basic & Mainstream. There are 71 different movements at this level. I’ll try to define a movement later. Some dancers never advance beyond this level. The next level is called Plus and consists of 29 additional moves. That puts us at 100 movements some having nuances. Most Square Dancers achieve and dance at this level.

Before continuing up the ladder let me try defining what I call a move. It is simply a combination of arm, hand and or foot movement, and is known as a call. Foot movements are basically walking, preferably with a shuffling or sliding step. Each step normally takes one beat of music. A call can take anywhere from one beat to 32 beats or even more. The tough part requires that you execute any call without stopping to think how to do it. Occasionally, you may have to “stack” several calls in your mind and remember the order in which to execute them. Of course you are not dancing alone, seven other people are in your square and all must remember what to do.

Some clubs dance “APD” or all position. This makes it a little more difficult since the male and female requirements differ.

The next level up is Advanced. While there are two levels, A-1(46 calls) & A-2 (37calls), Advancedis usually considered to be one level APD.

If you want to go still higher there is Challenge level. You will learn more about that level just as soon as you master the 183 calls at any position.

If you can walk you can probably learn to Square Dance. It does take time and practice however. Of course it’s all called Square Dancing and whether its a dance, a workshop or class it provides some excellent mental and physical exercise.
Square Dancing will add ten years to your life, a surprising new study shows.

Dr. Arron Blackburn states “It’s clear that square dancing is the perfect exercise. It combines all positive aspects of intense physical exercise with none of the negative elements.” Dr. Blackburn said square dancing is a low impact activity requiring constant movement and quick directional changes that help keep the body in shape. The study was based on their physical examination which indicated that both female and male square dancers could expect to live well into their 80’s. Square dance movements raise heart rates like many good aerobic exercises should. All the quick changes of direction loosen and tone up the muscles–but not so severally as to cause injury. In square dancing, when you’re not moving, you’re clapping hands and tapping your feet, which all contributes to long term fitness. “You don’t see a lot of 55 year old basketball players, but that’s just the age when square dancers are hitting their peak”, Dr. Blackburn said

SENIORS
Click here for health information directed at you.


If you have read this far and you are not a Square Dancer, I hope I have peaked your interest. If so find a club near you and get started. If you’re from West Virginia click here to find a Western Square Dance Club near you and contact them.

 
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Man credits square dancing with helping manage kidney disease

Man credits square dancing with helping manage kidney disease

Elmer Toops kisses his wife, Betty, at the Hazel Dell Grange Hall recently. Toops, 74, continues to go square dancing with his wife despite being diagnosed with kidney failure two years ago.

By Marissa Harshman
Columbian Staff Reporter

Sunday, August 26, 2012

photo

Elmer Toops and his wife, Betty, square dance during an event at the Hazel Dell Grange Hall recently. Toops was diagnosed with kidney failure two years ago. Recently, his dialysis provider named him one of the country’s 20 “Champions in Motion” for staying physically active despite his kidney disease.

photo

Elmer Toops, 74, and his wife, Betty, dance at the Hazel Dell Grange. The Toops have square danced for 32 years, even as Elmer endures kidney failure.

photo

Elmer Toops receives a bouquet of roses from his friend RuthAnne Barnard during a square dance at the Hazel Dell Grange recently. Toops and his wife, Betty, are members of the Buzzin’ Bees square dance club in Hazel Dell.

Elmer and Betty Toops danced their first square dance in 1980. In the 32 years that have followed, nothing’s stopped their dancing.

Their two children, now adults, took dance lessons. Weekends concluded with Sunday evening dances. Family vacations included square-dance festivals.

GET MOVING

You can do-si-do your way to better health at these upcoming events:

• Round-dancing lessons with Dorothy Lowder: 3-6 p.m. every Sunday at Clark County Square Dance Center, 10713 N.E. 117th Ave., Vancouver. First lesson free; $5 per lesson after. 503-232-7544.

• Country line-dance lessons, 6:30- 8 p.m. every Tuesday at Fishers Grange No. 211, 814 N.E. 162nd Ave., Vancouver. Admission is $4. 360-521-8360.

• Square dance with the Buzzin’ Bees, 7:30 p.m. Sept. 1 at Hazel Dell Grange No. 1124, 7509 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave., Vancouver. Admission is $6. 360-833-0879.

• Sunday dances, 2-4 p.m. every Sunday at Luepke Senior Center, 1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd., Vancouver. Admission is $3. 360-487-7055.

Not even Elmer’s end-stage renal disease diagnosis two years ago has been able to stop the dancing duo. In fact, Betty believes the dancing is what keeps Elmer healthy after nearly four decades with a disease that has slowly destroyed his kidneys.

“That’s what keeps him going,” she said. “I truly believe it was the square dancing and the physical exercise. That’s why his kidney function went as long as it did.”

Elmer was 35 years old when routine blood work revealed he had Berger’s disease.

Berger’s disease develops when an antibody lodges in the kidneys, hampering their ability to filter waste, water and electrolytes from the blood. Over time, it can lead to blood and protein in one’s urine, high blood pressure, and swollen hands and feet, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Berger’s disease usually progresses slowly over many years, and, for some, leads to end-stage renal (or kidney) disease, according to Mayo Clinic.

That’s ultimately what happened to Elmer, who turned 74 last month.

His kidney function continued to decline until it reached about 10 percent in September 2010. That’s when he started dialysis.

Even with three, four-hour dialysis treatments a week, the Camas couple has kept their dancing routine.

They participate in their club dances twice a month during the fall and winter, and they help teach new dancers the techniques of square dancing. In the summer, they travel to square dance festivals and visit other clubs for dances. For the out-of-town trips, Elmer coordinates with dialysis centers in the area to receive treatment.

In the last few years, as the disease progressed, Elmer has limited the number of dances he does each night. But he’s determined to stick to square dancing despite the diagnosis.

“Other than bad kidneys, there’s nothing wrong with me,” he said.

Besides dialysis, the only other treatment option for renal failure is a kidney transplant. In November 2011, Elmer was added to the transplant list at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland — an opportunity people his age aren’t normally afforded. Elmer credits his good health.

Kendra Weakley, a registered dietitian at Elmer’s dialysis provider, Fresenius Medical Care in Vancouver, said exercise and diet are important for dialysis patients.

People on dialysis get the same benefits from exercise that others do. But the benefits of managed body weight and blood pressure are of particular importance for dialysis patients, she said. Good health helps prevent further complications and keeps dialysis patients out of the hospital, Weakley said.

Fresenius Medical Care recently honored Elmer as a “Champion in Motion,” a national award given to 20 people who demonstrate a commitment to physical fitness and living well, despite chronic kidney disease.

“I’m not done living yet,” Elmer said. “I want to keep going.”

http://www.columbian.com/news/2012/aug/26/Man-credits-square-dancing-manage-kid/

 

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