All The Right Moves

Dee Schwaiger is not your typical personal trainer. Her goal isn’t to help people lose weight or run a marathon. Her passion is people with disabilities.

“I wanted a challenge,” Schwaiger says. “I never wanted to be Susie Spandex.”

In April 2009, Schwaiger launched “Moving and Grooving,” a dance class designed for those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. The class – the first of its kind in the metro area – is offered in Wauwatosa at Wisconsin Athletic Club and Mount Mary College, in Whitefish Bay at the Jewish Community Center and in Franklin at Next Step Dance Studio.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, progressive disorder that kills or impairs nerve cells in the brain. Its exact cause remains a mystery. Wisconsin is among the top three states in per-capita incidence, with more than 5,000 people afflicted in the greater Milwaukee area alone, says Vicki Conte, coordinator of the Parkinson’s program at Froedtert Hospital & The Medical College of Wisconsin. Nationally, nearly 1 million people have the disease.

Laurie Manna of Menomonee Falls was diagnosed just over a year ago and takes Schwaiger’s class. “That hour and 15 minutes was the first time in a year I didn’t feel like I was a prisoner in my body,” she says.

Schwaiger’s inspiration came from a Washington University-St. Louis study on the positive effects of the tango on Parkinson’s patients. Schwaiger, who owns The Exercise Studio in Mequon, designed the six-week-long class with two dance professionals and a medical team from Froedtert & The Medical College, which also provided the initial funding. They broadened the program beyond tango to movements that addressed other symptoms.

“When you think of Parkinson’s, you think of the Parkinson’s mask – lack of facial expression, freezing, slow movement,” says Schwaiger. “What dance does is enhance posture. It helps with movement initiation. It helps them get out of their heads and into their bodies and freely move.”

And they take the lessons home with them. Barbara Abrams reports with delight her husband’s commitment. “Don is going around the house saying, ‘Step step together, step step together.’ ”