ST. LOUIS Dancer, 84, shows med students a step or two

At 84, the dance instructor still moves with grace and stamina.
By PATRICIA CORRIGAN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
"And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
"I hope you dance. I hope you dance." -- Lee Ann Womack
ST. LOUIS -- First-year medical students at St. Louis University were cautioned, both literally and figuratively, last week against the dangers of preconceived notions regarding the aged. The figure doing much of the cautioning was an 84-year-old dancer.
Frances Wessells, who teaches dance at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., spoke recently to 160 students in a human-development class. Wessells then performed an eight-minute modern dance with Robbie Kinter, 40.
The dance involved much balancing and twisting, and both were panting slightly after the performance. Still, Wessells had illustrated beautifully that doctors--as well as the rest of society -- must not make judgments about people based simply on age.
The dance performed by Wessells and Kinter grew out of an improvisation they developed together, Wessells said before the class. Improvising dances with Kinter, a friend and former student, provides "a chance for me to dance," Wessells said. "Attitude is important in aging, but people who age healthfully also are passionate about something."
Sculpting is another of her passions, she said. Wessells also is an advocate of Pilates (a method of exercise), which she praised because "it can be adapted to any age, size or level of ability."
What matters
Wessells told the students that old age should come as no surprise to anyone, because habits and behaviors -- good and bad -- cultivated at an early age directly influence a person's later years.
Standing straight with a dancer's posture and speaking clearly, Wessells said, "Who you are at my age begins now, at your age. All the things you do now, in your 20s, determine what you will be later."
Wessells started dancing when she was 10, learning tap from a family friend on old wooden dining table leaves. In high school and college, she danced in a professional chorus, earning money for more dance classes. She got a master's degree in dance at New York University and then studied with Hanya Holm, a pioneer in modern dance.
For a time, Wessells had her own dance company and then taught dance full time at the University of Richmond for 25 years. Later, she founded the dance department at VCU and taught there for 25 years.
Though Wessells retired in 1980, she still teaches a couple of classes each week. She also is a member of the Latin Ballet of Virginia.
The stringent physical requirements of her profession have served her well, Wessells said. For much of her life, Wessells danced six to eight hours a day, and dancing "stretches the body, strengthens the body and teaches balance."
A little surgery also has helped.
"I'm a Bionic Woman," she told the class. "I've had both knees replaced, one hip replaced and I've shattered my femur."
Wessells is married to a man 20 years her junior, she said, and the mother of three grown sons from her first marriage, which lasted 44 years before her husband died.
Another story
Kinter, who said his knees are aging more quickly than the rest of him, also had an interesting story. In 1981, he was in a car accident that left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.
Once some feeling returned in his legs, Kinter was advised to take a dance class to help with flexibility and to regain his strength. By chance, Wessells was his teacher.
"Her dance class changed my life," he said.
At the time, Kinter was a sculptor who played drums. He became a dancer and now teaches dance and plays music for dancers at VCU.
Dr. John Morley, director of the division of geriatric medicine at SLU, met Wessells while giving a speech in Richmond. He invited her to serve as an example of "aging successfully" for the human development class here.
Before Wessells and Kinter danced, the medical students heard some statistics that may have surprised some of them. Dr. Joseph Flaherty reported that, among people over 65, 5 percent are in nursing homes, 5 percent have disabilities and 5 percent suffer from dementia.
"Aging is not inevitable decline. You must ask your patients what you can do to help them live life to the fullest," said Flaherty, an associate professor in SLU's geriatrics division .