The Lovelies

David Buffam was born in Alaska, grew up in Oregon, served two years in the Army at the NATO headquarters in The Netherlands, graduated with a degree in Theater from the University of Utah and moved to New York in 1976, where he was cast as the comic Genie in The Prince Street Players touring production of Aladdin, joining Actors Equity in 1978. In his early 30’s he was told to seek work in TV commercials because he had a “food face.” He signed up for a class in auditioning for commercials and won his first part on an ad before the six week class ended. Subsequently, he acted regionally in roles such as Cornelius in Hello, Dolly! starring Lainie Kazan, but had his real success in commercials; David made more than 30 of them for products such as Ludens cough drops, Avis, and AT&T until he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 12 years ago and retired from the stage and screen (or so he thought).

Carol Enseki is a designer, artist, cultural leader, and arts advocate. Having Parkinson’s has broadened her bio to include aspiring dancer, musician, and medical research volunteer. She was president of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum from 1997-2010. Prior to that she designed museum exhibits, conducted epidemiology research, and facilitated workshops for people with disabilities. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2000, Carol joined Dance for PD® in 2010 and is included in the documentary film, Capturing Grace by David Iverson. She currently enjoys dancing, singing, and creating visual art. She continues to be an active advocate for stronger connections between community, medicine, and the arts.

Cyndy Gilbertson is a retired social worker who has lived with Parkinson’s Disease for 31 years. Introduced to dance through Dance for PD® at the Mark Morris Dance Center, Cyndy has gone on to perform choreography by Claudine Naganuma at the Opening Ceremony of the 4th World Parkinson Congress in Portland, OR (2016), the role of the Grandmother in Tamar Rogoff’s production of Grand Rounds at La MaMa (2017), and most recently for Born Dancing in Only Connect by Melissa van Wijk at the Martha Graham Studio Theater (2018). Cyndy is featured in Capturing Grace, an award-winning documentary about the Dance for PD®’s inaugural performance project (2012).

Sonja Johansson enjoyed a long career as a landscape architect designing playgrounds and public spaces in NYC and Massachusetts. The minute her neurologist confirmed her diagnosis of Parkinson’s in 2013, she called her daughters in Brooklyn to plan a visit so she could attend Dance for PD® at the Mark Morris Dance Center. Sonja also signed up for dance classes near her home in Massachusetts with teachers trained by David Leventhal. Eventually she got an apartment in Brooklyn and started attending as many activities as possible: Dance for PD®, Sing for PD, Pam Quinn’s PD Movement Lab, Fitness for PD at LIU, and Support Groups. While her husband Rob Webb was alive, Sonja enjoyed sharing all these activities with him. Now she happily continues to dance with her friends in the MMDG community. She also loves to walk in neighborhoods and parks, and spend time with her family.

Patricia Bebe McGarry is a poet, performance artist, writer, and painter. She lives in Brooklyn with her daughter and 6 year old twin grandchildren. She loves the Mark Morris Dance Center and the creative spirit it fosters. As one of the first spoken word poets in the world, she has 10 albums of Poetry Out Loud on Amazon. “She’s been pioneering in the area of speech, music, and magic with each successive album and with POL #9, (Patricia M. Harleman) has done it again” (Rolling Stone). With her band, Bebe Gunn and the Real People, Bebe created rock and roll theatre where each song was a story enacted. She played many venues and was featured on Oprah, Larry King, Hollywood Reporter, People Magazine, among others. Today, she’s finishing a novel, a short movie, Juice (a rock opera on the OJ Simpson trial). Bebe likes to have fun with her friends and 7 grandchildren. www.bebemcgarry.com,

Nancy Petaja, during a life full of family, work, and community peppered every so often with dance, be it folk dancing or the occasional set of dance classes, always knew that “the purpose of life is to dance”. Dance for PD® has given her the opportunity to explore that notion and she could not be happier. Nancy thanks everyone at the Mark Morris Dance Group, all those involved with the performance production, and you.

Coralie Romanyshyn Saulson danced with Tamar Rogoff, Alice Farley, Kathleen Quinlen, and Clint Smith in the 1980s, and has worked with Emmatroupe Theater Lab for over 30 years. She taught Alan Wayne technique, Lyric dance, and with Clint Smith, developed the art of dancing on stilts. As part of Friends in High Places, Coralie performed at festivals, concerts and special events around the world. She was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014 and joined Dance for PD® in 2016, which was absolutely the best thing to do.

Maria Portman Kelly stays extremely busy changing the world as the Program & Engagement Manager at Dance for PD® | Mark Morris. That's why Lena is writing this bio. She claims to be an actor first, then somewhere down the line a dancer, but you'd never know dance isn't her first discipline, as she can twirl honey. This is an accurate bio, but a more complete one is coming soon.

Katie Turner studied tap and ballet with Darlene Ferrara of Walteria, CA during the school year of 1953-54. Upon receiving a diagnosis of Parkinson’s in 2017, she resumed her studies at the Mark Morris Dance Center. She is having a lot of fun and is wildly grateful to the teachers, musicians, volunteers, program facilitators, and fellow dancers within Dance for PD®.

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