One man's transformation through dance

I read an article yesterday in The New York Times by Neil Genzlinger which was published November 24, 2009. The article is about Gregg Mozgala, a 31-year-old with cerebral palsy who is overcoming his limitations through dance. 

The performance he has been working on for about a year with his choreographer, Tamar Rogoff will soon be on the stage as an hour-long piece.  Mozgala originally envisioned his performance would last about 10 minutes. However, given the benefits and improvements this training has afforded his body, an hour-long performance is more suitable given what he has achieved. 

The performance is entitled "Diagnosis of a Faun" and will premier on December 3, 2009 at La MaMa Annex in the East Village of New York City.  Mozgala is an actor with the theater group Theater Breaking Through Barriers. Despite going through years of physical therapy, Mozgala has not seen nearly as much improvement as he has through his work with Tamar Rogoff, " I have felt things that I felt were completely closed off  to me for the last 30 years," Mozgala stated in an interview with The New York Times.

The progress made by Mozgala supports and gives some hope to the theory of neuroplasticity, which means that there is potential for positive change within the body for those who have neurological disorders. Previously, neurological disorders like CP were believed to be fixed and unchangeable.

I personally find Greg's story to be inspirational. His success challenges my ideas about the reach of my own physical capacity.  I, like Mozgala, have found little success in physical therapy.  As a kid I was involved in many types of physical therapy; stretching, swimming, horseback riding, and even ballet.  My initial excitement for these activities would quickly wane as they often involved a great deal of discomfort, and even pain. 

I never liked participating in physical therapy because it kept me away from my friends and other things I'd rather be doing, but most of all because it reminded me of my cerebral palsy in a way that made it too real.  I could not just sweep it under the rug when doing these activities. I was reminded all too often that I would never have the physical capabilities of my peers.

If as an adult, I'm able to take away the stigma I attributed to physical therapy as a child (and sometimes still do) then maybe I could try something that while physically beneficial, would not fall under the category of physical therapy and therefore the stigma would be gone.

Anyone want to try yoga?