Dean Family + Ballroom Dancing

We had the opportunity to sit down at the Dean family home with Managing Editor of the Hometown Life/Observer & Eccentric Dan Dean and his dad, Larry Dean. Larry is battling dementia and Dan is one of the caretakers in his life. We filmed Dan and Larry through day to day obstacles, including going through the mail – some of which comes from solicitors trying to work Larry out of his hard-earned money. We learned how unfortunate it is that this is far too common and often an overlooked aspect of battling the disease. We felt privileged to sit down with both Dan and Larry to learn more about how this disease affects not only the individual but the caretaker as well. For a son, nothing is more upsetting than having to watch your father succumb to this disease. Dan has been sharing his very personal journey with his dad in his column. You can read the stories Dan has written through the following two links: link 1 and link 2

After filming with Dan and his dad, our team moved to film at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Bloomfield Hills. With owner Evan Mountain looking on, we filmed adults learning how to ballroom dance – many of them trying it for the first time. All of these participants were taking lessons knowing the benefits of ballroom dancing in delaying and/or preventing Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Throughout the lesson, we interviewed many of the dancers including Cathy Deutchman, Dr. Mary Jo Voelpel and her husband, Larry Voepel to hear their perspectives on the value of dance and how this social activity can benefit our healthy cognitive aging process.

We want to send a vast thank you to everyone who made this day of filming possible, especially Dan Dean, his father, Evan Mountain and dance instructors Donald Westphal, Aubrey Meade and Gloria Jones.

To learn more about how you can support this very important film, please go to: http://ontodaysfrontlines.com/alzheimers/