Recent research at Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis,
Missouri, has posited that tango exercises may be an appropriate and
effective strategy for ameliorating functional mobility deficits in
people who are frail and elderly. This was specifically noted in
sample groups of individuals with Parkinson’s disease and
randomly selected groups of elderly people. Those who
participated in tango lessons showed improved balance over those who
participated in standard exercise classes designed for the elderly and
for people with PD.
Tango may be danced either in the embrace or in “the practise
hold” – one partner holding the other by supporting the
upper arms. Working in pairs like this increases balance
security. Tango helps people who have difficulty walking in
dual-task conditions, since the partners are concerned with executing a
simple sequence in time to the music:
the leader instigating and the partner following. In Tango for
Balance classes, these roles are exchanged, encouraging both
participants to think at the ame time as they move. Tango also
helps alleviate panic problems, freezing while turning and other gait
troubles symptomatic of fear of falling down.
“Loss of functional mobility can lead to low self-esteem, poor
mood, withdrawing from activities, and decreased quality of
life.”(* 1) The social nature of partner dancing alleviates these
effects. But it is not only the elderly who suffer from
balance problems: it is a problem which may affect those injured
in accidents, those with inner ear disorders, and many others, so Tango
for Balance is not only
for the elderly. It is for anyone who wishes to improve their
ability to balance.
WHY TANGO?
Tango is exceptionally good for equilibrium – primarily because
tango is essentially a walking dance in partnership. This means
that, at the level relevant to Tango for Balance, two feet are on the
floor at any one time. One is your own, one is your
partner’s. Essentially when one stands in the practise hold
with a partner, four feet are sustaining stability rather than two
– this is like using another person as a support frame.
However, as classes progress, couples are encouraged to move together
without using the partner for support.
Walking alone involves moving from one foot to another. There are
three crucial events involved in this: instigation of the move forward,
passage of one foot past the other – with pressure on one hip
– and landing on the other foot – transferring
pressure to the other hip. Tango encourages dancers not to
“dip” in the hip when walking forwards. Allowing the hip to
become displaced while transferring weight is a major cause of
instability.
Three possibilities exist in moving from one foot to the other –
or indeed in rebounding back to the initial foot. You can walk
forwards, backwards or to the side. Tango works with all three of
these movements, and with the simple transference of weight from one
foot to another “on the spot”. In a conventional
tango class, preliminary exercises will encourage participants to move
through these actions
without a partner, developing “an axis” – that is, an
ability to balance
collectedly (one foot without weight on it next to the foot with weight
on it) after forward steps, backsteps, sidesteps or rebounds back onto
the foot initiating the step. In Tango for Balance, such
exercises
may be done later, where appropriate, once a measure of balance
security
has been attained. Exercises may also be performed seated to
encourage
strength in knee and ankle.
The second essential component to tango is the pivot, a rotation of the
ball of the foot achieved by releasing the heel. Fear
of performing this action, or indeed the functional inability to
perform it, leads to freezing in turns and is a key cause of
falls. Participants in these balance workshops are assessed for
pivot ability and, where
capable of pivots, taught how to perform this action without losing
their
axis, or, where incapable, shown how to develop a strategy for turning
without pivoting.
Partners are encouraged to exchange lead and follow roles,
so that they learn how to instigate and how to respond to
movement. They are also expected to swap partners, which creates
a pleasant social ambiance – raising morale. And all these
issues are addressed to the accompaniment of music, which stops them
feeling like a chore.
While a vestigial unconditoned walking response can be observed in
babies, we learn to walk, unlike other animals. We learn to walk
as we learn to talk and to think. Walking is a conditioned
activity that requires a number of complex muscular
coordinations. However, our ability to walk in a confident
balanced way may be improved as we bring walking closer to its natural
roots in the unconditioned response from which it evolved. Tango
encourages crossover coordination between the upper right and the lower
left parts of the body. Crossover coordination has implications
for autism and Asperger’s Sydrome, dyspraxia and dyslexia.
This was discovered by observing crawling patterns in babies.
Freedland and Bertenthal have stated that “crawling experience,
and specifically experience following the onset of hands-and-knees
crawling, contributes to the development and reorganization of a number
of other skills, such as spatial orientation, fear of heights, and
postural stability.” (*2)
Significantly, some infants later diagnosed with Asperger’s
Syndrome have exhibited crawling patterns that deviate from the basic
diagonally opposing limb patterns. Diagonal coupling of the limbs
“maintains the most stable centre of gravity.” (ibid)
By encouraging crossover coordination, tango develops our ability to
maintain “the most stable centre of gravity” – for
dancers are encouraged to coordinate crossover rib rotation with
walking, thus maintaining a connection with their partner.
For all these reasons, tango is good for a confident walk,
with diminished fear of falling.
Tango for Memory
In addition, tango may well help dementia sufferers, since
participants are encouraged to memorise short choreographic sequences
known as “figures”. This encourages stimulation of
memory linked
to physical action, which may be more effective than memory exercises
which are simply done in the head.
Anthony Howell
References
* 1) Effects of Tango on Functional Mobility in Parkinson’s
Disease: A Preliminary Study
Madeleine E. Hackney, BFA, Svetlana Kantorovich, BS, Rebecca Levin,
DPT, and
Gammon M. Earhart, PT, PhD
*2) Freedland, R. L. & Bertenthal, B. I. (1994) Psychol. Sci. 5,
26-32.