Devotion in motion
By Ruth Schenk | .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Dressed in jeans, a cowboy hat, lariat and shiny black tap shoes, David Siewert dances to the syncopated rhythms of songs such as “Elvira” and “Steppin Out.”
Six years after a stroke paralyzed his left side, it is difficult to find any residual damage.
He can heel toe, skip, ball tap, touch, stomp and brush.
His grin smiles back through the full wall of mirrors in front of him at the studio. He has come a long way.
But his progress has not been instantaneous. It’s been closer to one step at a time.
David met Southeast member JoAnn Fryrear when she choreographed dance routines for an over-60 group that performs. His left leg dragged as he walked and he had
trouble with balance, but he wanted to be part of the program.
Fryrear told Siewert that dance therapy might help him regain some mobility.
In the last 30 years, she has worked with special-needs children, those who are blind and deaf, little ones with cerebral palsy and those who had never stepped onto a
dance floor. Helping someone regain motion five years after a stroke was a new challenge.
Fryrear was a bit surprised when David said, “Let’s do it.”
And so it began.
David and his wife, Karen, began going to the JoAnn Fryrear School of Dance twice a week for tap lessons. In the beginning, Karen stood on David’s right and Fryrear stood
on his left as they worked out along the bar that runs the length of the studio. David didn’t put on tap shoes for a month, but in time, he danced to the music.
JoAnn called his progress “super exciting” and said studies are being done to see how simple dance moves can plow new pathways to the brain. She said God has
blessed the studio and calls what happens there “devotion in motion.”
JoAnn’s husband Ray, the pastoral minister at Southeast, has seen it happen.
“What happens at the studio is ministry,” he said. “If you go to a recital, you’ll see all kinds of people with all kinds of issues from all kinds of places. It’s a place of healing.
JoAnn put a photo of the international children she works with at Louisville's He Visto la Luz church in the lobby with an inscription that says, "As for me and my house, we
will serve the Lord." That’s what she does at the studio.”
David knows that dance has worked miracles in his life.
He no longer drags his left leg.
In fact, now he and Karen dance at nursing homes where David also plays his guitar and sings favorite songs.
His single goal in life is to encourage others. He had always wanted to sing and play the guitar someday. After surviving the stroke and heart attack, David knew his
“someday” had arrived.
He bought a used guitar and took seven lessons. At first, David could barely get a finger on the right string, but with tedious practice and determination, he began to play
hymns and personal favorites.
And he began to sing.
“I guess my personal favorite is ‘Precious Lord, Take My Hand,’” he said. “That’s what I believe the Lord has done with me. He’s taken my hands to do His will. Until then, I
didn’t realize that when you bring smiles to other people, you get 10 times the joy back.”
Since giving a surprise recital for his physician, Dr. Kerri Remmel, he also performs for nurses who work with stroke patients.
Last week at a recital at the dance school, a little girl about 10 years old, approached David and said, “I hope when I get old I can dance like you.”
David loves the compliment, and at 68, he has no plans to stop dancing or singing.
Neither does JoAnn.
“We have a lot of fun and have seen some amazing things happen here,” she said. “It’s been a real joy to see David’s progress. I love teaching dance, and I really love
seeing it change people’s lives like this.”