Art is a gentle pill

B dancers and Parkinson's patients, these two terms at the same time never seems to set in one person. Worldwide, 10 million people suffer from Parkinson's, a progressive movement disorder that disease mostly occurs in older people, stiff limbs, tremors from time to time and bad sense of balance allows us to have an initial understanding of Parkinson's patients .

But in the past 15 years or so, they are among the thousands of people participated in the program belongs to Dance for PD part of dance classes. Dance for PD was started in Brooklyn, now throughout the United States and around the world. Also, because the dance may ease Parkinson's symptoms, the course also attracted scientists' attention and interest.

This has been around for 5 years, the project is located in Venice, Los Angeles, California, where Los Angeles is an important cultural center, with canals, beaches and street artists known. On a normal afternoon, nearly 24 "Broadway Baby" trying to imitate accompanied by music teacher Linda Berghoff dance movements. These students are Parkinson's patients and their spouses or caregivers.

Each of them sitting there, the upper body erect, arms extended, with the music doing rallying movement. This is not a small challenge for Parkinson's patients, while waving their arms to take the time to 1-2, when the third shot with the other side. Berghoff has been with everyone shouting encouragement. She was very thin, healthy, looks than her actual age of 65 years to be smaller. Although she has never been a professional dancer, but dancing throughout her entire life, even 10 years ago, she was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

"When I know I got sick, I might never dance again the idea scared me," she said, "I feel my favorites are deprived of the same." The same diagnosis hit Laura Karlin, the Berghoff as a her second mother's friend. Karlin can support Berghoff trying to find things. She asked Berghoff, "you want to practice yoga together? Do you want to dance with me? Do you want to do with a dance class?"