Waltzing With Dementia? As Easy as 1-2-3
Published Jan 16, 2014
By Nathan Hescock
How does one even begin to do a waltz with a person with dementia? It’s as easy as 1-2-3. Yes, sure, it’s a complex dance, but it can be taught to individuals with varying degrees of dementia as well as to their caregivers, so that everyone can participate and continue to dance.
The Viennese Waltz is one of the most sophisticated, elegant dances in Ballroom. Dating back to the late eighteenth century, the dance is connected to the Landler, an English country dance in 3/4 time and the early dances in Bavaria more than 100 years prior. People of the Baroque and Rococo period grew weary of the formal Minuet and took to the exciting swirling nature of the waltz. Midway through the 1800s the dance and the music reached it’s height with Johann Strauss, known today for the “Blue Danube Waltz” who enjoyed much of the same fame as modern day rock stars.
The Viennese Waltz is essentially a rotary dance that is characterized by a couple turning counterclockwise to an impressive 162-170 beats per minute. How can such a fast spinning dance be applied to someone with Dementia? Wave your hand to the music like a conductor and the answer becomes clear.
The 3/4 timing of the Waltz is counted 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3….. A natural body response to that would be to start on 1 with a sweeping motion and finish on 3. Even elderly people with limited physical mobility can feel the rhythm of the waltz by simply moving their bodies, or even just their arms from side to side. However, if possible, we want people to dance it.
Stand with your feet together and your knees slightly flexed. Feel how the flex in the knees pushes you weight over the balls of your feet. From this position you will be able to negotiate your own weight as well as supporting your partner’s weight. With the inside edges of the balls of your feet allow your weight to drop slightly before pushing off from one foot to the other. Try to feel the sweeping motion when moving from one foot to the next, trying to capture the “arc” of the waltz. At the middle part of the weight change (the 2) the arc should be at it’s lowest point with the rise happening on the 1 and the 3 as you are either initiating or finishing the sweep. Once you feel comfortable with that movement, you are ready to take a partner. When taking a dance hold, always make sure that you are supporting your partner by keeping your elbows in front of your body while placing the heel of your right hand on your partner’s shoulder blade. Remember that as the leader in the partnership, you should spend time during the first part of the song understanding your partner’s physical limitations and adjusting the size of the steps accordingly. If you want to take the dance to the next phase, you can very gradually begin to rotate the partnership in place to the right, but only by a few degrees with each step. This should be enough for a caregiver to engage in a little waltzing with a loved one.