Isn't "Dancing for Persons with PD" an oxymoron?

If nothing else, the past 56 years has made me more open to experiences that as a teenager I would have run from with my life. For example, a few weeks ago an advertisement made the rounds of the local Parkinson's Disease Support Groups promoting a class called Dancing for Persons with Parkinsons. Now for someone who needs a support structure when I walk anywhere, dancing seemed out of the question.  But I went and signed up.  

The number of attendees varied from 20 to 24 and all but 3 or 4 had a diagnosis of Parkinsons.  The instructors were affiliated with the Mondavi Center at UCDavis and seemed to have a good grounding in modern or interpretive dancing.  Now when I think of such dancing, the image that flashes in front of my eyes is that of Hippos in tutus dancing to Waltz of the Flowers.  And no one looked more like that image than me. 

Fortunately, Kathi & Joy, two classmates who carpooled with me, were slender and graceful so watching them dispelled the image a little.

I was successful in dancing clumsily but never confidently.  Three-fourths the way through the class I would invariably get a very sore, very tight back.  This hippo decided he could pass up re-enrollment when it came around.