SIDE KICKS PARTNER DANCE CLUB
Our club began when a group of line dancers asked their instructors Sherry and Jack Ashenfelter if they could teach them some couples dances. In January 2001, Jack and Sherry along with non-residents Marilyn and Ray McNeal formed the Pattern Dance Club.
In 2006, Jack and Sherry turned over the reins to Carla and Tony Magri, who had extensive pattern dancing experience. The volunteer instructors strengthened the clubs's focus on country and western music. In 2010 we formally voted to rename our club Side Kicks Western Dance Club and the dance "Sidekicks" became our signature dance. In 2019, Carla and Tony decided to step down as the main teachers and Paula and Dave Shira along with BJ and Roger Schwartz now lead the teaching and weekly dancing.
A major study from the New England Journal of Medicine (Leisure Activities and the Risk of Dementia in the Elderly) added to growing evidence that stimulating one's mind by dancing can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. They found that dancing increases cognitive acuity at all ages. The only physical activity to offer protection against dementia was frequent dancing.
Reading--35% reduced risk of dementia, Bicycling and swimming--0%, Crossword puzzles done at least 4 days a week--47%, Golf--0% but dancing frequently reduced the onset of Alzheimer's or other dementia by 76%.
So the best advice, when it comes to improving your mental acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making (pattern dancing), as opposed to rote memory dancing, or just working on your physical style. Dancing integrates several brain functions at once--kinesthetic, rational, musical, and emotional--further increasing your neural connectivity which are needed to reduce Alzheimer's or dementia.
So keep dancing.
Contributor Joyce Woods