Harper's Bazaar - Can ballet Help in the Fight Against Alzheimer's?
I am standing on the side of the dance studio, debating whether to leave. Having recently returned to ballet classes after a two-decade hiatus, I feel defeated by the instructed footwork. It doesn’t help that the “Balletcore” class I am taking is 21+, meaning that I am auntie age in the eyes of many of my fellow dancers. Our instructor, dancer and choreographer Angela Trimbur, is introducing choreography that feels especially complex. But then she says just the thing to get me back onto the floor: Part of her intention is to fight off dementia. When I ask her about it later, she tells me, “Whether someone remembers every step is honestly less important to me than the fact that they're building new neuron pathways and challenging familiar patterns to shift gears.” Trimbur continues, “When we’re learning choreography, we’re asking the brain to do so many things at once: remember sequences, process music, coordinate movement, adapt when we make mistakes, and stay present with other people in the room. It’s a perfect puzzle for keeping the mind fresh.”
