THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610110135
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 99 lines
FAITH IN GOD, and the tush push, helped Jerry Casper recover from a serious accident.
And it put his wife, Phyllis, back on her feet after an operation for a brain tumor.
``We were on prayer lists from here to Florida,'' she said. ``Our dancing was instrumental in our recovery - because we're in such good shape.''
The Franklin dance teachers, both 56, work for Union Camp Corp. However, six nights a week, they put country line dancing students through their paces.
``Change, bump, move those shoulders. Stomp down. Go up. Step, kick, turn, step, scoot.''
Without a little luck, a lot of prayer and the excellent physical shape that line dancing keeps them in, the Caspers might not be dancing now.
They had to interrupt their hectic schedule last April, when Jerry fell off a ladder in their club, The Silver Buckle in Murfreesboro.
``He went up to check the ceiling,'' Phyllis said. ``He moved a piece of tile aside, then tilted his head to look up. The ladder collapsed, and he landed on the back of his head on the concrete floor.''
Quietly, she remembered: ``Blood covered his scalp. He went into convulsions. He was out. No breathing. I thought I'd lost him.'' About 90 percent of people who have head injuries like the one Jerry had die within 25 minutes, Phyllis said.
``I thought, if he survived, he'd suffer brain damage,'' she said.
At the time, Jerry had been as active as he is today. His dance pupils included the local police chief, a nurse, two emergency medical technicians.
For more than a month, he switched from cowboy boots and Stetson hat to hospital gowns.
``When he came home from the hospital, he had to have someone with him around the clock,'' Phyllis said. ``He's still mending, but he's back on the dance floor. It will take another year for the injury to completely heal.''
Six months after his accident, Jerry was just starting to get back to dancing when Phyllis had a seizure.
``I'd been dancing about three or four hours and felt wonderful,'' she said. ``Then I felt a tingle in my fingers. It went up my arm, into my face and twisted my mouth. Then I lost feeling in my left hand.''
Phyllis discovered that she had a non-malignant, golf-ball-size brain tumor.
``It was removed, and I've had no problems since then,'' she said. ``None at all. I'm not even on medication.''
But - whoops - three months ago, she suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Again, the exercise and spirit-lifting line dances brought her back to the ballroom floor.
Ironically, the Caspers shared the same room and the same surgeon at Sentara Norfolk General, even though their injuries did not occur at the same time.
That togetherness is an example of the Caspers' lifestyle. They met when her older sister married his oldest brother.
``We've been childhood sweethearts since we were 13,'' Phyllis said. ``There's never been anyone else in our lives.''
Their dancing careers started after their two children left for college. They have mastered skills and won several awards.
Jerry choreographs some of their dances. Three are being performed in different parts of the country.
The ``S.B. Shuffle'' is named after their club. ``N O Shuffle'' is also known as the ``New Orleans Shuffle.''
``I.C.U.D'' has two translations - ``I see you dancing'' and ``intensive care unit dancing.''
``If we weren't dancing, we'd be sitting on the couch sleeping and getting chunky,'' said Phyllis, who compares line dancing to aerobics. ``It's like a jogger's high. The more you do it, the better you feel. It's good exercise and a stress reliever.''
It's also addictive. Many students go to beginner class and return for intermediate class.
``You get to doing it,'' Phyllis said, ``you want to keep going. And prayer works miracles. We're both miracles.''
The Caspers gave their first lessons in 1991 at the Moose Lodge in Franklin when ``Achy Breaky Heart'' was the biggie.
``Now, it's `Macarena.' That's everywhere,'' Phyllis said. ``We do the same dances you see on television. Right now, `Cowgirl Twist' is number one.''
``Start on the count,'' Jerry tells his students - 5,6,7,8 - now 1,2,3,4.''
In Franklin, Suffolk, Smithfield, Murfreesboro and Roanoke Rapids, the dancing Caspers teach such dances as the ``Rodeo,'' ``Cowboy Cha Cha,'' ``Southern Swingin,' '' ``Tush Push,'' ``Cowboy Charleston'' and ``Cowboy Hip Hop.''
They do exhibits at area fairs and fall festivals and conduct twice- weekly workshops at the Silver Buckle, a family-oriented place where everybody dances.
When do they slow down?
``We take Christmas breaks,'' Jerry said.
``We teach Monday through Saturday nights,'' Phyllis added. ``We go to church Sunday.''
And 24 hours a week, they dance. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
MICHAEL KESTNER
The Virginian-Pilot
Jerry and Phyllis Casper teach a new dance step at the Birdsong
Recreation Center in Suffolk while class members follow along. by CNB