When Ivor Preston was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, he never expected it would lead him to the dance floor.
"I was a civil engineer, a boring civil engineer, and I didn't think I'd ever be doing dance concerts and jumping around," Mr Preston said.
The degenerative neurological condition is characterised by tremors, rigidity and slowness of movement, and affects an estimated 100,000 Australians.
For the past two years, Mr Preston has been taking part in weekly Vital Dance classes in Townsville, a community program specially designed for people with Parkinson's.
He has barely missed a lesson.
"I wanted to calm it down without the need for extra drugs, so it's been excellent for me."
'Dancing is for everybody'
Dancenorth's Vital Dance program is part of the Dance for Parkinson's initiative, which was developed in the US city of New York 20 years ago and has since spread across the world.
"The benefits of dancing and singing as well for Parkinson's sufferers is well documented and researched," dance teacher Alice Lee Holland said.
While conventional dance classes focus on technical proficiency and performance, Vital Dance takes a different approach.
"Our participants are experiencing deterioration as a result of Parkinson's disease," Ms Lee Holland said.
"The classes consider that and work to develop or practice movement pathways that become difficult: like the finer movements of the fingers, the openness of the feet, the moveability of the joints, facial expression."
Much of the class is seated to accommodate the limited mobility of some participants.
"Dancing is for absolutely everybody, and we know it is enriching for lives and healing for people," Ms Lee Holland said.
'Nobody treats you like you're different'
The benefits for the group are mental as much as physical.
People with Parkinson's disease often experience social isolation, loneliness and depression.
Veronica Knowles was diagnosed in 2009, and now attends Vital Dance classes every week.
"Where we find our problem is in the mind — trying to remember stuff — that's what I'm working on.
"It's hard, but the music helps, and the teachers are fantastic."
Her husband Kevin also comes along to every class, despite not having Parkinson's himself.
For others, the lessons have been a way to reconnect with old passions.
"I grew up in the bush where bush dancing was my thing … I really miss it," Ruth Coleman said.
Ms Coleman, who runs Townsville's Parkinson's Support Group, said the camaraderie of the classes was a major drawcard.
"You need to be with other people, I think, with the same symptoms," she said.
"Someone who's gone through the same thing understands what what's going on."
