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On the road again:
Greetings from Kissimme
e
, Florida
Happy Valentine’s Day, a day named after Saint Valentine, a 3rd century priest of the Christian Church.
At that time, the Roman emperor Claudius forbade marriage between young men and women because he believed that unmarried men made better soldiers because they were not committed to a loved one at home.
Valentine defied this decree and secretly married young people while also baptizing them into the Christian faith.
For this, he was caught and tried before a magistrate by the name of Asterius.
Now Asterius had a daughter, Julia, who had been born blind.
Valentine, in front of Asterius, placed his hands over the girl’s eyes and restored her sight. Asterius, amazed, converted to Christianity.
However, Valentine was still sentenced to death.
Legend says that, in his final days, Valentine wrote a message to Julia and signed it “from your Valentine.”
Thus, from this, we now also share love messages with our valentines.
Today's Story ...
… is also a love story. It’s about people helping people within community, with dance being the bonding factor.
In my previous two blogs, I’ve written about contra dancing: first, its
definition and description; and second,
a powerful message by contra dancer and midwife-in-training Betsy Richards and her experience with death and love.
Today’s love story features an organization called
Dancing Well: The Soldier Project, which was founded in 2012 by Deborah Denenfeld, who has over two decades of experience as an in-school instructor of folk and historic dance.
Deborah defines Dancing Well’s purpose as “providing restorative community dance experiences to veterans and families affected by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
The “community dance” aspect includes simple, easy-to-learn dance steps common to contra and square dancing but tailored to a beginning dancers’ experience level.
Eye contact and hand-touching-hand connections are major features of the human interaction on the dance floor. As with contra dancing, smiles and grins quickly light up the dancers’ faces.
Acoustic music by live musicians contributes to the joyful, animated ambience.
And each Dancing Well session includes a comfortable snack break for some quiet conversation between individuals as well as uplifting words of encouragement from Deborah.
Of the benefits of the Dancing Well program, Deborah says that participants “are smiling and enjoying life again.”
Peer-reviewed scientific studies indicate that veterans with PTSD who have been through the Dancing Well program show significant improvement in mood, outlook on the future, feelings of connectedness to others, and a reduction in tendencies to isolate.
The latter is especially important because many people with PTSD isolate, which often leads to increased depression, substance abuse, and suicide.
One veteran says that after attending Dancing Well he started going out in public more, opening curtains in his home to let light into his rooms, and felt like he was “getting back out in the world.”
Deborah says that community dancing is “all about having fun together, letting loose in the moment and sharing that moment with whomever you’re dancing with.”
It’s not necessary to come with a partner because everyone dances with everyone. But some veterans do bring their spouses and children. If the children don’t dance, Deborah’s volunteers provide childcare.
A series of dances runs for ten weeks with a special ceremony and dinner on the final night.
Cyndy and I know Deborah through contra dancing. When in Louisville, we have been among the non-PTSD volunteers who set up the room, provide snacks, greet guests, and dance.
“This is a way for people without PTSD to interact with and have compassion for those who do,” Deborah says.
Deborah originated the Dancing Well program after being invited to talk with Dr. Edwin O. Walker, a staff psychiatrist at the Veterans Administration Healthcare Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in 2010.
They held their first dance series in November of that year. The participants were active duty military with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
Walker was very familiar with these problems and their effects on soldiers and veterans: physical pain, impaired memory, and anxiety when in the company of others.
He had observed that one of his patient’s condition improved by learning to play the guitar.
Walker suspected that the combination of music and repetitive movement might have been helpful factors.
Walker also knew that, when he danced, his own aches, pains, and worries disappeared. So he asked Deborah, “Could dance help soldiers and their families too?”
Deborah, who also has a master’s degree in business administration and has worked as a systems analyst and project leader in healthcare, heartily said, “Yes! This is a way to help soldiers, veterans, and their families feel good about themselves.”
She helped Walker tailor a program of community dancing that would address the needs of soldiers, veterans, and their families.
The reported outcomes were amazing within the individuals, within their relationships, and within their interactions with others.
Deborah continued the Dancing Well program in her home community of Louisville.
She devoted 2013 to fundraising and held the first official Dancing Well series in 2014.
Since then, she has completed 12 ten-week series and has helped hundreds of participants—92 in 2019 alone—attain a higher quality of life.
She continues to have the attention of the Veterans Administration.
When Cyndy and I attended in November 2019, an administrator from the local VA hospital and his nine-year-old daughter were also there, both of them grinning from having a good time.
Today, Dancing Well has its own 501©3 status and receives funding through donations from individuals and grants from organizations around the country.
And Deborah is now taking steps to train dance leaders, recreation specialists, therapists, and anyone who works with PTSD populations, showing them how to create this kind of dance event in other communities.
In the spirit of Saint Valentine, you can help too.
The cost to serve one person is $300 per session. Deborah still needs $3,000 to start the next session.
Watch this
Vimeo video, which provides a good explanation of Dancing Well and shows people dancing.
Search for “Dancing Well the Soldier Project” to find links to related sites, including news features and interviews with veterans who have been helped by Deborah’s project.
“Roosevelt’s Story” is particularly uplifting and informative.
And—please, please—share this blog with others. Maybe someone out there in the vast universe of goodwill energy will connect with Deborah and help her spread her good work to more and more soldiers across the country and around the globe.
Click here to see some of the photos that Cyndy has taken on our journey.
Thanks for reading my stories.
God blesses everyone ... no exceptions.
Robert (Bob) Weir
