YEE-HA!
By: Susan Morris
PWHO Hosts The 2007 PWSA-WI Hobby Day teams. Bonnie Kraft, parent of an individual served in our program (who kindly gave permission to use her name in this article-Thanks Bonnie!), recalled she started thinking about a dance as a form of exercise after filling out a satisfaction evaluation related to her daughter’s services.
In a phone call to the family to update them on progress in placement, Mrs. Kraft shared that idea. She knows how much our population loves to dance and what an important piece exercise is in our individual’s daily programming. She specifically mentioned that a square dance might be a really great option to look into. I let her know what a wonderful idea that was and that I’d see what I could do.
After the phone call, I mulled over if this idea could actually get off the ground. “Think, think, think Morris” played again and again in my head, in the typical Winnie-the-Pooh fashion, which became imbedded after hours of video play in my own home years ago. Then the “ah-ha” moment struck. I recalled from my days at ODTC, that the Adaptive Physical Education instructors Mary Murphy and Angel Hansinger, use to hold a Square Dance Club years ago. I approached them and rattled off the idea. Reluctant at first, speculating on how a dance with so many with one diagnosis in the same room would work out, they agreed. They began to look forward to seeing so many of our individuals that they haven’t seen since they moved into the “adult world”. Mary became so interested in the project, she wrote a paper for her summer course on the benefits of square dance for those with PWS.
With capable “callers” for our dance and music to boot, we set sights on securing our location and sending out sign-up sheets to our group homes. We included in our invitations, students from ODTC with PWS as well. With clearance from supervisors to proceed, we set up a few planning meetings, locked in a date, and received names of individuals interested in participating.
The day finally arrived, and we dosie-doe’d and promenaded our hearts out. Then we swung our partner round’n’round to the sweet grooves of Glen Cambell’s “Gentle on My Mind”. Our callers walked us through the steps and in the end we were able to do the steps to the music. Some circles went to the beat of their own drum or did the dance freestyle, but in the end it really took the pressure off of trying to do it perfectly and was much more fun for all.
After a sugar-free lemonade break, we wrapped up the day with the Chicken Dance (we are in Wisconsin…). We had over 30 participants from PWHO and 3 students from ODTC that were able to attend. Teachers and therapists from ODTC, and direct care staff from PWHO and ODTC stopped in to enjoy the activity and support the dancers. Our grand total in the end was probably around 60+ that attended.
Since the dance, there continues to be very positive feedback from both the adults and the children that participated. Personally, I haven’t seen that many smiling faces under one roof in a long time. That alone made it all worthwhile.
It was a very fun and heart warming activity to have been involved in. Was it worth it? Yes! Will we do it again? We hope so. Mary, Angel, and I have already started talking about maybe setting up another Square Dance after the holiday season has passed and cabin fever sets in. We may even get as creative as to try to hold a Sock Hop or a Disco instead. The possibilities are endless when you have such a dedicated group of people to work with, and such wonderful and inspiring individuals and families to support and serve.
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