Dancing for disabled, aged

Press, 11 February 1981, Page 12

Dancing for disabled, aged

Dancing is not just for thei. young and able bodied. Ith can also open up a new j “world” for the disabled and elderly, according to a West! German folk-dancing expert i in Christchurch on Monday, i; Mrs Use Tutt, founder of the West German Senior Citizens Dancing Association, which has 5000 teachers and more than 150,000 participants, believes that:; dancing is the key to break- 1 ing down the social isolation!: often forced on elderly and! disabled people. “Too many folk in this! bracket are left to ‘sit and: die,’ when in fact a lot of; new horizons, both physical: and social, can be opened to [them through dance,” she! ‘said. Speaking at the end of a one-day seminar for professional people working with the disabled and elderly, Mrs Tutt said that the field

iseemed wide open for dcvel-i !opment in New Zealand. ; ! More than 10 years ago Mrs Tutt was asked by an •elderly relative to start! idancing lessons for older land disabled people. ■ “We now have groups in Finland, Denmark, the NeuU erlands, Austria, and Switzerland all working to give I people a new chance of! activity.” ■ Mrs Tutt was excjtecl labout the ' new 'dancel !methods she learned while! •attending a national folk' • dance school at. Massey University recently. ! ; Wheelchair-bound people [ | often took part in specially i • adapted dancing in West! I Germany and other parts ofi Europe. “Now T have the Maori; poi dances and the other sit-ii ting dance played with; sticks to take home. This] will add new variety toi

.'dances for wheelchair ipeople.” i Mrs Tutt, whose organisation receives financial sup-! port from the West German!

Government and social and welfare agencies said that pysiotherapists had a big role to play in promoting dancing for elderly and disabled people. "Through this form of physical and social activity helped bv enthusiastic and empathetic able-bodied people, the lives of thousands can be altered for the better. We all love the fun and jov of dance. We certainly do not lose that just because we get old or disabled. The secret is to proi vide stimulus for what has been put aside for long years.” I Monday’s seminar was supported by the West GerIman Embassy in Wellington, >and organised by Mrs Dojreen Williamson, of the Fairandol Folk Dance Club in Christchurch.