Swing dance fundraiser to benefit the Alzheimer's Association

Those who enjoy swing dance – or want to try it for the first time – will have an opportunity to do so while also benefiting an important cause in early August.

The “Don’t Forget About It Swing Dance” will be held from 6-10 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, at Locust Grove Historic Site in Poughkeepsie.

Linda Freeman of Marlboro, a longtime swing dance instructor in the Hudson Valley who runs Got2Lindy Dance Studios with her husband, Chester Freeman, created the event as a Longest Day fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Association in honor of her mother, who suffered from dementia before passing away in 2012.

The event will feature live music by the Swing Shift Orchestra, an 18-piece big band. The doors open at 6 p.m., and the evening will kick off with a beginner’s swing dance lesson given by the Freemans at 6:30. The band will play from 7-10 p.m. During the band’s breaks, there will be multiple dance performances including the Sunshine Dance Studio, The Big Apple Lindy Hoppers from New York City, the Beacon Performing Arts Center and Got2Lindy Dance Studios.

Admission is a requested $20 donation, and the event features a silent auction and 50/50 raffle. Linda Freeman said she has some great silent auction items available for bidding.

“We have a membership to Rosendale Theater, restaurant gift certificates, facial and hair style gift certificates, beautiful art from professional artists who are my dance students, and so much more” she said.

In addition, the Hudson Valley Healing Center donated $20 gift certificates to its salt cave experience that will be given to the first 100 people at the event.

Freeman said a swing dance fundraiser is a perfect way to draw attention to the beneficial impact of dance, particularly for those who may be more socially isolated and physically inactive.

“I think there’s a wonderful tie-in to all the research that has shown the beneficial impact of dance. Here’s a way to support your own brain,” she said, noting that swing dance classes like hers give the brain a workout on cognitive, social and physical levels.

“Our mission is to turn non-dancers into dancers and strangers into friends. I have seen older people come into my classes, and they begin to act and feel younger. They come in, they have four left feet and they leave transformed,” she said. “I’ve seen this over and over again. They’re happier. They have friends. It’s a supportive community.”

She said many people in her dance classes are older adults whose kids are out of the house -- with or without a partner -- who are looking for something to do. She said the classes also help bring different generations together, with students ranging in age from their 30s through their 70s.

“That’s the other beauty about swing dance,” she said, “The connection between generations. It’s the culture of it to be open and welcoming, so gender doesn’t matter, age doesn’t matter, and whether you can dance or not is handled by taking classes.”

Freeman and her husband started Got to Lindy Dance Studios in 2004. They offer weekly classes in Kingston, Newburgh and Highland and monthly social dances as well. They also give private lessons and work with wedding couples one-on-one in addition to teaching elementary school students.

One family's story

Linda Freeman described her mother’s experience with dementia as a dramatic downturn over a short period of time.

“From 2009 to 2012 when she passed, we were dealing with her rapid decline. She went from being this very vibrant person to being bedridden and unable to speak.”

While the doctors thought it was Alzheimer’s, Linda Freeman did not think her symptoms matched up with descriptions of the disease.

“The doctors said only way you can truly diagnose Alzheimer’s was by autopsy. When they did, it turned out she had basal cortical degeneration, rare enough that no neurologist attributed her symptoms to it, though once I googled it the description matched her perfectly. Regardless, it was still in the dementia family, and they wouldn’t have treated it any differently,” she said.

The former Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Mount Vernon, Marianne DiPalermo had continued to work into her 80s and was commuting regularly to Manhattan as a research coordinator for the John D. Calandra Italian American Institute.

Freeman said her mother had no intention of retiring. But one day she was pushed down on the subway on her way home from work, and the fall broke her hip. Bystanders helped her sit down on the subway, but the severity of her injury became apparent when she was unable to get up again.

She was transported by ambulance to a hospital where she had surgery, and after that Linda Freeman said she never really recovered. Once dismissed from the hospital, she was moved to a nursing home, but a week after she got there, the therapist who was working with her said she didn’t have enough cognitive function to continue therapy. Her family then moved her home, where round-the-clock care was necessary.

Linda Freeman said the only hint of something amiss before her mother’s fall were intense bouts of rage at growing older. “She didn’t want to be treated like an old person, and we didn’t know if there was something else really wrong,” she recalled.

The family took her to Columbia Hospital to see if the fury was sign of something else, but found nothing.

“It was a horrible decline. She lost the ability to do most everything – talk, walk. We took her to neurologist after neurologist who said it was Alzheimer’s, then Lewy Body, and an aide said it was Parkinson’s,” Linda Freeman recalled. “They did give her Aricept, but it didn’t really help. Her decline was fast -- and for the family, two years of agony.”

Linda Freeman said she hopes her swing dance event will help raise money to end dementia, which continues to affect more families.

“It just breaks my heart that dementia is increasingly becoming a part of so many people’s lives. There’s hardly anyone I know who hasn’t been touched by it in some form. I want to help to fund resources to make this terrible disease go way. Because it just seems to be getting worse and worse,” she said. “Transforming people’s lives is really what we’re about, and this event is another way to do that,” she said.

To learn more about the Don’t Forget About It Swing Dance, or to donate, visit http://act.alz.org/goto/dontforgetaboutitswingdance

To learn more about Linda and Chester Freeman and Got2Lindy Dance Studios, visit their website at www.got2lindy.com

About the Hudson Valley Chapter

The Hudson Valley Chapter serves families living with dementia in seven counties in New York, including Duchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester. To learn more about the programs and services offered locally, visit alz.org/hudsonvalley.

About the Alzheimer’s Association

The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Its mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research, to provide and enhance care and support for all affected and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Its vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. Visit www.alz.org or call 800.272.3900.

If you go

What: Don’t Forget About it Swing Dance

When: 6-10 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11

Where: Locust Grove Historic Site, 2683 South Road, Poughkeepsie

Cost: $20 donation is requested

Contact: Linda Freeman at 845.236.3939 or visit got2lindy.com