Seniors Free of COVID Isolation Dance Together

The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult on many groups of people. But perhaps it has been especially hard for many older people. Many months of being alone, or isolated¹, has taken its toll² on many senior citizens.

However, in some places, that isolation³ is coming to an end.

For example, in a senior center in New York City, seniors shake their hips⁴ and stomp⁵ their feet to salsa, cha-cha, and merengue music. After two years of living in COVID-19 pandemic isolation, Latin dance classes are getting them moving together again.

Despite illness and mobility⁶ issues -- including the loss of a leg -- students are now able to take free classes at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood in upper Manhattan.

The dance instructor⁷ is 50-year-old Walter Perez. He and his partner, an Argentinian tango dancer, started the hour-long class in 2013. Their goal was to teach Latin social dances at senior centers.

Perez said, "We saw how our students got happier and improved their physical balance ... and they socialized."

Perez told reporters from Reuters news agency that the classes start with seated exercises. This way everyone, even those who have trouble moving, can be included. "...And then," he added, "we stand up and we dance a little bit."

One of the students is Felix Castillo. Last year, his leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes⁸. The 74-year-old trumpet⁹ player said, "I get emotional and need to dance when I hear salsa." He said he feels the music and dances in his chair.

Despite dementia, Eugenia Peralta cannot help but dance around the room. The 89-year-old is known for her energetic moves on the dance floor. For this, her fellow dancers call her "roadrunner," said her daughter Jackie Peralta. A roadrunner is known to be a fast-moving animal.

"COVID took a toll on her. ... Her mobility went down," said Jackie. But now, her mother is active. In fact, Jackie said her mother has a hard time staying still in one place.

Walter Perez, the instructor, said that when in-person classes started after nearly a year's break, the stamina¹⁰ of the senior students was not the same. He said, "...many were missing, so it was very sad. But we were happy to be here and to come back, to have this courage to keep going."

What drives Perez is the pleasure of dance. He found this relationship with dance at age 21. That was when his mother died.

"I went to the church to pray. Next to the church in Argentina there was a tango place. So, I started dancing tango, and it was therapeutic¹¹ for me and then became my profession and my way of living."

He added that the music and dance have a healing, therapeutic effect on people. He likens it to an embrace. When the music is playing and you are dancing with others, "...you are not alone, you are walking with the music in an embrace."

Words in This Story

take a toll – idiom to have a serious, bad effect on someone or something : to cause harm or damage

senior – n. a person older than another

stomp – v. to walk heavily or noisily

mobility – n. the quality or state of being mobile or movable

amputate – v. to remove by or as if by cutting

dementia – n. a usually progressive condition (as Alzheimer's disease) marked by the development of multiple cognitive¹² deficits¹³ (as memory impairment, aphasia¹⁴, and inability to plan and initiate¹⁵ complex behavior)

stamina – n. the ability or strength to keep doing something for a long time

courage – n. mental or moral strength to venture, persevere¹⁶, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty

therapeutic – n. having a beneficial effect on the body or mind

embrace – v. to hold in the arms

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 stomp   

v.跺（脚），重踩，重踏

参考例句：

• 3.And you go to france, and you go to stomp! 你去法国，你去看跺脚舞！
• 4.How hard did she stomp? 她跺得有多狠？

6 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

7 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

8 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

9 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

10 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

11 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

12 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

13 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

14 aphasia   

n.失语症

参考例句：

• Unfortunately,he suffered from sudden onset of aphasia one week later.不幸的是，他术后一星期突然出现失语症。
• My wife is in B-four,stroke and aphasia.我的妻子住在B-4房间，患的是中风和失语症。

15 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

16 persevere   

v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• They are determined to persevere in the fight.他们决心坚持战斗。
• It is strength of character enabled him to persevere.他那坚强的性格使他能够坚持不懈。