“Yes … I Can (!) Dance” continues to succeed in Cleveland:
Class brings pride, joy to those with Parkinson’s disease
Dance instructor Kathryn Karipides demonstrates a dance move during the Yes…I Can (!) Dance class at the Mandel JCC in Beachwood.
When Harriett “Taffy” Epstein learned that her friend’s daughter, Dr. Karen Jaffe, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2011, she began thinking of ways to help. Epstein, who owned a nationwide dance boutique, died in June 2013, but during her last years of life was able to help launch the Yes…I Can (!) Dance class at the Mandel JCC in Beachwood.
“Taffy single-handedly got this thing together,” said Jaffe, who worked as an OBGYN at University Hospitals for more than 25 years. “She was absolutely instrumental. She wanted to do this for my mom, since I have Parkinson’s disease, and she was just determined to make this happen.”
The Yes…I Can (!) Dance class is modeled after the Dance for PD program, a collaboration between the Brooklyn Parkinson Group and the Mark Morris Dance Group, an internationally acclaimed modern dance company in Brooklyn, N.Y. After reading an article in a magazine about the Dance for PD program, Epstein called Jaffe’s mother to pitch the idea of bringing the class to Cleveland.
Kathryn Karipides, a professional dancer and choreographer who met Epstein in the 1950s, had also read about the Dance for PD program in The New York Times. She thought bringing the class to Cleveland was a wonderful idea and convinced David Leventhal, program director and one of the founding teachers of the Dance for PD program, to teach a training workshop in Cleveland. With the help of DANCECleveland and Cleveland State University, about 40 local dance instructors were trained during the workshop in early 2013.
Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disorder that affects movement. Both the Dance for PD and Yes… I Can (!) Dance programs use dance moves to improve agility, balance and coordination for the participants.
Jaffe admits she was skeptical when she first walked into the training workshop.
“When I first walked into the classroom and saw a circle of chairs I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me, I’m going to dance in a chair?’”
But as live piano music filled the air, everybody started to move and dance. By the end, everyone was smiling.
“We were dancing. It didn’t matter that we were sitting down. It was really remarkable,” Jaffe said.
The class, which draws about 15 people, is taught by Desmond Davis, Heather Koniz, Joan Meggitt and Karipides. Meggitt, who was taught by Karipides in graduate school, was invited to be the lead instructor for Yes…I Can (!) Dance. She said the class focuses on flexibility, coordination, range of motion and strength.
“It’s energizing. Anything that is moving the body, particularly in community with other people, really raises the level of energy and focus of the individual,” Meggitt said.
Meggitt added that the program is a dance class, not an exercise class.
“The overriding factor is that this is an art form,” she said. “We want to provide an outlet for the expression of the participants. These are people who want to dance, and it just happens that they’re also living with a very debilitating disease. That’s the connection, but that’s not the focus of the class.”
Karipides emphasized the sense of community that develops in the class through the art of dance.
“Everyone in the class is in the same boat,” she said. “There’s a sense of community and it’s joyous for them. Each week at the very end of class they acknowledge each other and pass a movement along. It’s so heartwarming because this group of people are involved in dance and maybe for just that 60 or 90 minutes they can forget about their Parkinson’s disease. It’s very liberating for them.”
Jaffe, who founded the nonprofit organization Shaking With Laughter in 2011 to fund Parkinson’s research, said Parkinson’s disease can be a very lonely diagnosis, since individuals often try to keep their disease a secret. The Yes…I Can (!) Dance class creates a safe environment for those with Parkinson’s disease.
“People who walk in aren’t the same people who walk out,” Jaffe said. “They walk straighter and leave happy. It’s a really positive experience. It’s about dancing and the movement of dance and how it can affect you and the other people in the room.”
Before she died, Taffy’s last ‘project’ was for Yes…I Can (!) Dance, a class for people with Parkinson’s Disease, their families, and care partners.
Yes…I Can (!) Dance brings about positive changes to people with Parkinson’s Disease
Left to right: Instructor Kathryn Karipides, Dr. Karen Jaffe, Instructor Joan Meggitt, Instructor Desmond Davis, Participant Kathy Lopez
BEACHWOOD – It happens to be a dance class that’s perfect for beckoning an energized, rejuvenating trip to Cancun, Mexico – a place full of white sandy beaches, Caribbean Sea waters, and tranquility.
“Now, we’re going to swim through those clear waters,” Desmond Davis tells his group comprised of at least 20 people. He’s one of their teachers, and he leads the way. “All shoulder and back work,” he adds.
Together in unison – joined by their other teacher Joan Meggitt – they extend their arms to form a series of graceful front strokes. Moments later, they switch to moving their arms in big, repetitive, circular motions, to create back strokes.
To increase the refreshing feel, keyboardist Nicholas Underhill fills the atmosphere with calming, dreamy music complete with synthesized, melodious tunes.
“Very nice,” Davis says, as the swimming technique comes to an end.
And then, it’s back to reality. Underhill stops the music for only a brief moment, and, dance class continues in a spacious room enclosed with white walls and large mirrors. That Cancun experience was just a tiny snippet of the type of creative, narrative dance techniques that generally take place in a program called Yes…I Can (!) Dance, a class for people with Parkinson’s Disease, their families, and care partners.
Jan. 12 kicked off the fifth session of the program, and it’s usually held Sundays from 2 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. in the Group Fitness Studio of the Mandel Jewish Community Center. The current session runs until Feb. 23.
The class is designed to alleviate many of the problems associated with Parkinson’s Disease – a disorder that affects more than 1 million people in the United States. PD functions as a progressive degeneration of the nervous system, therefore affecting a person’s movement. Many symptoms of PD exist, including tremors, trouble with balancing, depression, and loss of facial expressions.
But it was the prominent, late, Clevelander Taffy Epstein who – in 2011 – began formulating ideas for a way to start a Parkinson’s Disease dance class in Beachwood after finding out that her friend’s daughter was diagnosed with the disorder.
And that daughter was Dr. Karen Jaffe, who currently works as an OBGYN for University Hospitals. “She had read an article about the Mark Morris Dance for PD group,” said Jaffe about Epstein. “She single-handedly got them to come here and train several teachers.”
Therefore, because of Epstein’s tenacity, Yes…I Can (!) Dance launched in early 2013. Sadly, Epstein passed away in June of 2013 at the age of 92, before having the chance to see the program she started become as effective as it is today.
The Mark Morris Dance Group, located in Brooklyn, N.Y., formed in 1980 and is known as a world-acclaimed dance company. In collaboration with the Brooklyn Parkinson Group, the Mark Morris Dance Group initiated its Dance for PD® program in 2001. About 13 years ago when Dance for PD® first started in N.Y., sessions were carried out with just two teachers and six participants. Today, the program successfully operates with affiliates in 9 countries and in 100 communities – including the Mandel Jewish Community Center here in Beachwood.
On its website, Dance for PD® is described as “an aesthetic experience that uses the elements of narrative, imagery, live music and community to develop artistry and grace while addressing such PD-specific concerns as balance, flexibility, coordination, isolation and depression.”
David Leventhal, Program Director and one of the founding teachers of the Dance for PD® program in Brooklyn, happened to be one of the instructors Epstein asked to visit Cleveland about a year ago. Leventhal was instrumental in training more than 40 local, professional dance instructors, teaching them the basics of starting a Parkinson’s dance class.
Now, he’s encouraged to see the launch of the Parkinson’s Disease dance class at the Mandel JCC.
He thanks DANCECleveland, the Mandel Jewish CC, dance instructors, and Taffy Epstein for the success of the class. “The program has already made a significant impact on the community,” Leventhal said. “I look forward to seeing it continue to reach and inspire even more individuals in the coming months and years.”
Yes…I Can (!) Dance is taught by instructors Joan Meggitt, Desmond Davis, Kathryn Karipides, and Heather Koniz. Each of the four teachers attended the MMDG’s training session with Leventhal in Feb. 2013.
Dance classes for Parkinson’s around the world are about creative movement, technique, and fun. However, the one thing such classes are not about is Parkinson’s Disease. They’re not about therapy, either, explains the Dance for PD® program.
Jaffe agrees. “It’s about being able to move and dance,” she said. “It’s about movement, it’s about being comfortable here. This is not therapy, this is about dancing.”
Upon seeing a large dance studio with dozens of chairs and participants positioned to create a widespread circle, it’s easy for one to think very limited creative dancing will soon transpire. Jaffe said that’s how she felt the first time she participated in a Dance for PD® training session with Leventhal in Cleveland last year, before the dance class was officially started at the Mandel JCC.
“I thought, ‘oh you’ve got to be kidding me,’” said Jaffe. But soon after learning a few creative dance techniques, she looked around the room and noticed something amazing. “There were all of these people dancing in a chair. It was remarkable. It doesn’t matter that we’re in a chair.”
That’s just what happened during the first 40 minutes of Sunday’s Yes…I Can (!) Dance session. What seemed to be non-stop artistic dance movement occurred while participants remained in their seats. From the lifting of arms and legs, and the soft curving of spines – accompanied by live music – to the stretching of back muscles and lots of technique to get those hip sockets working, one might as well say it was a total workout.
It wasn’t long before all chairs were pushed aside and the next dance technique was introduced: slow, hip-rolling, Latin dancing.
And finally, the time came to gather for a partner-line dance. Underhill, the talented keyboardist, threw in a jazzy, popular tune familiar to most of us: the Pink Panther theme song. Two separate lines were formed with a space down the middle, as partners faced each other. To give a clearer picture: try imagining a Soul Train Line. Partners took turns walking down the middle, showing off freestyle moves. It was a time of joyous laughter.
Kathy Lopez, one of the participants in the Yes…I Can (!) Dance class, has attended since the very first session. She’s been living with Parkinson’s for about 8 years. “This is a class I would not miss. It’s a very special class,” she said.
Shirley Harris is 90 years old and normally travels several miles from Avon Lake to attend Sunday’s dance class. “It’s a wonderful class. The live music is a big help,” said Harris.
Maxine Stoller has lived with Parkinson’s Disease for 10 years. Like Lopez, she has attended the dance class since its inception. “My experience here has made me younger and healthier,” she said.
And that’s exactly what Leventhal enjoys the most about teaching dance to his students living with Parkinson’s Disease: their enthusiasm.
“It’s an incredible honor, joy, and responsibility to share an art form I love with a group of people who are so eager to learn. I love introducing a dancer’s approach to movement to people who may experience specific challenges,” he explained. “I’m committed to sharing the full range of dance experience – from ballet and modern technique to Mark Morris repertory, folk dance and improvisation – so that participants become aware of the range of possibilities still available to them.”
As for Dr. Dan Weidenthal, an Ophthalmologist in Beachwood, his story is quite different from other class participants. Though he doesn’t have Parkinson’s Disease, he still chooses to spend his Sunday afternoons with the class. “I came because my wife does,” said Weidenthal, who has attended the program for a while, though unfortunately his wife has stopped attending for medical reasons. “But, I’ve had knees replaced, and I’m limping in here, and walking out. This has helped me tremendously. When I leave here, I’m able to walk up the stairs.”
About the dance instructors, he added: “These teachers are really dedicated. If someone is really impaired, they’ll come over to them, they don’t just ignore them.”
Jaffe and her husband Marc, are the founders of Shaking with Laughter, a nonprofit with the mission of raising enough funding to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. She too has witnessed people who – like Weidenthal – leave Yes…I Can (!) Dance in a manner different from when they first show up.
“I’ve seen people who have come here in wheelchairs and with walkers,” said Jaffe. “And by the end of class, they’re not using them.”
Studio dancers and teachers everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to Taffy Epstein, who based her costume company and line of coast-to-coast dance retail stores on the then-radical ideas of style, quality, and convenience. She died June 10 at age 92.
Art Stone says he built his own successful costume company by “copying everything she did. I learned more from her than anyone in the industry,” he says of his longtime friend. “She was the leader-the first to come out with a color costume catalog, the first to open more than one store. She was quite a woman, and I w ill miss her desperately.”
Epstein was born Harriett Gombossy on July 20, 1920, in Akron, Ohio.
An amateur hoofer, she shared a love of the arts with her h sband, Harvey Epstein, a shoe designer. Noting the growing interest in tap shoes, the two opened a shop In 1954. Officially Cleveland Dance Footwear, it was known as
“Taffy’s place,” the Epsteins’ daughter, Susan Epstein, told Dance Studio Life. Taffy Epstein, a woman with impeccable style and an indomitable “Auntie Mame” attitude, plunged in. In the days when leotards were unshapely cotton garments and many dance students sported recital costumes sewn by their moms, Epstein demanded well-designed, top-quality garments. One Taffy’s store expanded to become a chain of 14, from Seattle to Dallas to New York City.
Taffy’s was the first retail distributor of Danskin tights, Susan Epstein said, and the first to design and sell dance dresses. To support studio industry retailers, Taffy Epstein worked toward the creation of the United Dance Merchants of America. She hired innovative employees and listened to them, threw legendary parties, feverishly followed the Cleveland Indians, and never stopped taking risks.
In 1990 Epstein sold Taffy’s to Capezio– when it “stopped being “fun,” she said in published stories.
“It all just sort of happened,” Susan Epstein said of her mother’s storied career “It was the right place, the right time, and the right product.”
A dancing dream has come true, in a sense, for Taffy Epstein. In The Arcade she has one of the few shops in the nation devoted to the accoutrements of the ballet toe shoes, tiaras, leotards, tu-tu skirts, Grecian tunics, circular side-tie skirts, opera tights and hose and even special undergarments. The place has an exciting backstage atmosphere.
“I took dancing lessons for many years,” she explained. “but first the depression and then marriage and two children ended any thoughts of the footlights. However, I never lost my love for the ballet and since 1955, with this work, I had a wonderful opportunity to be close to it. When there is a dance recital and all the participants come to be fitted, it is as stimulating as a first night.”
Students, parents, teachers and dancers visit Mrs. Epstein to discuss problems. They feel at home immediately for she is usually garbed in a leotard that fits her size eight figure beautifully.
Her husband, Harvey L., is the producer of the Chagrin Falls Valley Playhouse. This winter he is serving as production manager for the Shaker Players. He is in the wholesale shoe business and the family lives at 2891 Ludlow Road, Shaker Heights.
What does Taffy (as her intimates call her) like to do in her spare time? Dance, of course.
Taffy Epstein (nee Harriett Gombossy), owner of Taffy’s Inc. from 1954 to 1990, died on June 10, 2013. She was 92.
Born on July 20, 1920 in Akron, Ohio to Gertrude Klineman Gombossy and Julius Gombossy, Mrs. Epstein graduated from Cleveland Heights High School and Miami University. If one were to condense her life into a two-hour movie, one would have to leave out the taxi ride from Rome to Florence on Christmas Eve, and being kicked out of a convent hostel for returning at 3 a.m. with convulsive laughter. A life-long Clevelander, she was also a die-hard Indians fan, being a Base-Belle and having had a childhood crush on Bob Feller (they both took breakfast at Clark’s across from Cleveland Heights High).
From humble beginnings in a small dancewear store in Cleveland’s Arcade in 1954, Mrs. Epstein made Taffy’s a nationwide dance boutique, with 14 retail locations from Boston to Atlanta to Dallas to San Jose, including a location at 57th and Broadway in New York City. After selling Taffy’s to Capezio in 1990, Taffy started a take-out delivery service called Dinner is Served. In 2011, when Mrs. Epstein learned that a dear friend’s daughter had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, she single-handedly raised enough money to start the Yes…I Can (!) Dance program at the Mandel JCC.
With no pretense, with no duplicity, with apologies to no one, and with compassion for all, she always walked her path, whether it was over the mountain, around the mountain, or straight through the mountain. She always walked the path of her heart.
Mrs. Epstein is survived by her son Steve Epstein of Ageo, Japan; daughter Susan Epstein of New York City; and grandchildren Mika and Boone Epstein. She is predeceased by her parents, her husband Harvey L. Epstein, and sisters Celia Schenkel and Rose Ann Shensa.
The family will be receiving friends and family at the residence on Saturday, June 15 from 1-9 p.m. and Sunday, June 16 from 1-6 p.m. Contributions are suggested to Shaking with Laughter for the Yes…I Can (!) Dance Program, 2683 West St. James Pkwy., Cleveland Heights, OH 44106 orshakingwithlaughter.org.
