Pop-Up Video and Behind-the-Scenes Fun Facts
Whether attending Jazzercise classes or walking around the block, each of us needs to know that working out briskly at least 3 hours a week means a lower risk of breast cancer and recurrence! That’s such big news that Back in the Swing invites you to download your "Exercise Prescription Pad". We also made this video to help spread this message throughout the world!
Here are some fun facts that just couldn’t all fit into the video script! Enjoy!
We had a ball making this video...literally! We are crazy about our pink balls! Our dilemma: Do we call it the Pink Ball Party...or the Party Ball Video...or the Back in the Swing Pink Balls video? Do we get silly, stay serious, or just play it straight? As you can see...we opted for plain speak because we have some big, serious news: New research that demonstrates the power of getting back in the swing after breast cancer through aerobic, strength training and stretching—all found in Jazzercise, the site where the founder of “Back in the Swing” first had the inspiration for the nonprofit organization known by that very name 10 years ago! We sold the pink balls to Jazzercise customers following this video; all funds benefited Back in the Swing!
Lifestyle choices—including exercise—are the cornerstones of new research about what we can do every day to reduce breast cancer risk. More than 3 hours of exercise a week, behavior modification, and eating healthy resulted in a reduced risk of breast cancer and greater quality of life, according to a recent Energy Balance Study, at the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Survivorship Center.
Half of the study's participants attended Jazzercise classes for a six-month period. The participants underwent pre- and post- intervention assessments of overall fitness, breast cancer risk, and measures of quality of life. The study showed that participants, including those who attended Jazzercise, lost 5.6% of their total body fat (DEXA), 12.6% of their starting body weight, and decreased their levels of insulin by greater than fifty percent. Additionally, the study group demonstrated considerable progress in several measures of fitness, including increased flexibility, grip strength, endurance, and heart rate. They also reported significant improvements in quality of life including diminished depression and fatigue symptoms. These findings have been shown to lower blood pressure and LDL ("bad cholesterol"), lessen the risk for heart disease, improve glucose intolerance (decreasing risk for diabetes), and greatly reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence.
Back in the Swing is dedicated to disseminating research study results, such as these, that improve and protect your health, and reduce breast cancer recurrence. According to The American Cancer Society, every 3 minutes, someone in this country is being diagnosed with breast cancer. Back in the Swing’s mission for creating this video is simple: To help spread the word that exercise and joyful living go hand in hand with health & wellbeing.
No and Yes! The Jazzercise Center in Overland Park, Kansas, was the site where the video was filmed before a benefit class event to raise funds for Back in the Swing. Just prior to this benefit class event, we asked for volunteers to participate in our video. We thank them for all their enthusiasm and energy! Some had been Jazzercising for 20+ years; some had never Jazzercised before this day! Our idea was to spotlight different “groups” of people (under 30 yrs old, over 50, men, instructors, those with our special pink shirts and doctors – these are the groups that you see) to show that we ALL—regardless of age, shape, size, dance ability—work out together. This is the philosophy of Jazzercise … that it is for anybody & everybody.
We spent HOURS debating this very topic. We felt it was very important to maintain the integrity of the original choreography. However, the video clips that the producer could choose from were limited due to the boom being in the shot, other people in the shots, close up shots, group shots, etc. There were three cameras at work; some shots did not allow us to show the routine as one would see in a regular class. We taped the routine as originally choreographed and ALWAYS teach the routine, as choreographed, in Jazzercise class; however, there were some technical issues with getting the choreography to coincide with the music properly. In the end, we decided that the purpose of this video was not to show how to do a Jazzercise routine. Rather, it was to show that Jazzercise is a fun physical activity, to share the wonderful KU Cancer Center’s Breast Cancer Survivorship Center’s research news and help people connect with the nonprofit breast cancer survivorship organization, Back in the Swing.
We had a ball getting the word out about the power of movement and reducing risk of breast cancer recurrence and increasing breast cancer recovery! Who knows balls better than a juggler? And who’s our special juggler? His name is Vince, and he was more than game to play in our pink balls playground. Vince volunteered his talents to add that special fun factor to our video. His mother and grandmother are both breast cancer survivors, and he was enthusiastic to help the mission of Back in the Swing: joyful, healthy living.
No, but we are proud to let you know that her vision of Jazzercise that began over 40 years ago is healthier than ever! We owe a LOT to that woman, Judi Sheppard Missett. She is the creative force and amazing businesswoman behind Jazzercise; and it really was in a Jazzercise class that the idea “bounced” into student Barbara Unell’s head to launch the nonprofit, Back in the Swing. We hope she likes our video.
Happily, breast cancer survivors are back on the playground having fun like all the kids in Jazzercise! We don’t know the exact number of people who have had breast cancer who were in our video...because we didn’t ask … and we don’t single them out, just as we don’t single out others who have had health or personal challenges. Jazzercise instructors number in the thousands, as do the breast cancer survivors in classes: over 32,000 Jazzercise classes are taught each week...and one in 8 women in the U.S. will experience breast cancer in her lifetime, according to current statistics. Every year, more and more locations around the world help get the world moving! And that’s good news for breast cancer survivors...and all of us!
They include husbands, boyfriends and “just friends”. We believe that they participated in the video on their own free will (some of them aren’t even married!)! They were a LITTLE reluctant, but these guys understood the impact this video could make. It only took a tad bit of coaxing to get them out on the dance floor. They were such good sports and a BLAST to work with!!
Dr. Klemp is the Director of the Breast Cancer Survivorship Center (BCSC) at the University of Kansas Cancer Center. After the emotional turmoil of a diagnosis of Breast Cancer and the physical challenges of treatment, the KU Breast Cancer Survivorship Center exists to address one simple question, “what’s next?”
Staff of the Survivorship clinic firmly believes that patient care should not end when treatment does. In fact, Survivorship begins the day of diagnosis and continues every day of the patient’s life. Survivorship takes into account the various areas of life affected by cancer: psychosocial functioning and physical side effects from treatment, with an ultimate goal of healthy living during and after cancer.
Survivorship care offers a variety of services from a multi-disciplinary medical team that includes medical oncologists, specialized nurse practitioners, dietitians, and clinical psychologists. The ‘team” in the video are the members of the staff of the BCSC who led the “Energy Balance Study”, including Jazzercise. Results of the Study can be found at www.kumc.edu/bcsc.
Patients can come to the Survivorship Center located at the University of Kansas Westwood Campus for routine physical examinations, genetic counseling, cardiology assessments, diet and exercise programs, as well as fertility preservation.
Back in the Swing has worked with their friend and videographer, David Moore, to produce and direct all of their videos during the last 7 years. In each, David worked closely to bring the organization’s vision and message to different groups of people. Usually, the production of a Back in the Swing video is fairly straightforward: It's shot with one camera, one set up at a time. However, in this video, they pulled out all the stops, with 3 cameras running simultaneously during the shoot! One camera was on a tripod, a second was on a camera crane and the third was handheld. David spent over 40 hours editing the footage and pop-ups into the video that you see. FUN FACT: The first shot of the day was of the juggler. When David introduced himself to the talent, the two recognized each other. They had both been in the theater department of the same college 12 years earlier together. What a small world.
That is Maddie Ford, the daughter of Angie Ford (who is the owner of the Jazzercise Center where we shot this video and has a cameo appearance, along with the founder of Back in the Swing, Barbara Unell, in the "hip bump shot"!). She is almost 16 years old; her curfew varies from weeknight to weekend, school night to summer. Our message? Jazzercise is appropriate for ALL ages!
Yes! And, yes, they really do get paid to dance/teach/motivate/educate. Ain’t it great?? (For our benefit class and video, they volunteered their time and talents!) They are instructors from the Overland Park Jazzercise Center and work on a daily basis to help all women (and men) get back in the swing of joyful, proactive living!