CHICAGO -- Patients at the Rush University Medical Center swayed and stretched as they followed choreography from one of the dance captains of “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.”

The medical center held a movement workout for patients with Parkinson’s disease on Wednesday with the help of J’Kobe Wallace, the instructor. About two dozen people came out to learn and create some of their own dances. Patients partnered up and made up their own eight-count dance moves and followed the motions of Wallace.

For over 12 years, Anna Pasteris, 67, has lived with Parkinson’s disease and to have an event centered around her and others that are diagnosed felt great, she said, but feels otherwise about a lack of a cure.

“The disease has been around like 200 years and yet we still don’t have a cure for it, so it’s kind of frustrating,” Pasteris said.

Without a cure for Parkinson’s disease, patients are dependent on treatments and medication for a better way of living, and exercise has been evident in slowing down the progression of the disease, according to Jori Fleisher, associate professor of neurological sciences and movement disorder specialist at Rush University Medical Center.

Nonetheless, it still helps to know that research is being done to find one, she said.

The cast of the Neil Diamond show have been fundraising and pursuing their goal of collecting $1 million to donate to the Parkinson’s Foundation for research. Currently, they have raised approximately $750,000, according to Gabrielle Perruzzi Sovers, a spokesperson for the Parkinson’s Foundation and the development manager for the Midwest chapter of Parkinson’s Foundation.

“Beautiful Noise” is based on the life of American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, who in 2018 announced that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Wallace chose the dance he wanted to show accordingly.

“To teach that choreography to other people that are experiencing a similar trajectory as (Diamond), and I think this choreography lends itself to just community, and I think that’s what I’m most excited for,” Wallace said ahead of the workout.

“Stadium Medley” is from the second act of the musical and doesn’t require great technique, Wallace said, which allowed everyone to take part. He showed a modified version of the dance and later showed the actual version that he does on stage.

Wallace talked about how he got to where he is in life and how he got into theater and dancing, but he called showing the dance to other people “the highlight of my career.”

There is no specific exercise that impacts the disease’s progression, but dance is beneficial to those that are diagnosed, Fleisher said. “There have been plenty of dancers out there who are differently abled this whole time and I love that this is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on that.”

Music is a motivator for patients, Fleisher said. Sometimes she will tell them to think of a song in their head, which leads them to move when they had been stuck, an example of mind over matter or mind over body, she said.

Mary Ellen Oliver, one of the participants, has had Parkinson’s for 25 years. She had a great time participating with others while having live and contagious energy, she said. “Having a group of people together and they all have Parkinson’s, it reinstates that you can still do things even though Parkinson’s steals from you.”

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“A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Show” runs through Nov. 30 at the Cadillac Palace Theatre, 151 W. Randolph St.; tickets and more information at www.broadwayinchicago.com

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