ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180058
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LESLIE HAGER-SMITH SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
It's 6 p.m. on a Monday as Corky Lucas works his way up the stairs to his dance studio, Ideas in Motion. Just three months ago ago he lay in a hospital bed, uncertain of ever walking again. Tonight, he'll "shuffle off to Buffalo" - a dance step - with a dozen eager tap dancers from one of his competition classes.
Only the faintest signs remain of the paralysis that struck him so unexpectedly - a slightly uneven gait, a misplaced step or two.
At 55, Lucas could pass for a man 15 years younger. Stylish and fit, he sports diamond ear studs, a trim mustache and blond highlights in his dark hair.
Customers of Wade's Supermarket on South Main Street in Blacksburg may have missed Lucas in recent months. He's had to give up bagging for now, but nothing could keep him from his studio - not even a stroke.
A wall of west-facing windows in the studio frames a view of the Corning plant, directly across U.S. 460. Silhouetted against the scene are scores of shining trophies, the accumulated earnings of six years' hard work on the part of Lucas and his students.
Lucas is stern with the group of 9- and 10-year-olds. He moves up and down their ranks to critique their performance, scolding sloppy footwork. "You want to do this in front of judges?" he cajoles.
But a few moments later, the children are sharing the good news that Lucas has regained 25 pounds he lost during convalescence. "You still look skinny!" declares Gwen Treptow. The whole troupe laughs along with Lucas.
"Why am I strict with you?" Lucas drops to his knees to join the children who are now huddled on the floor at the close of class. "Because you love us and you want us to do good!" responds Joseph Brozovsky, age 10.
"That's right!"
Dena Kellison, Lucas' 32-year-old daughter, had just arrived in her office at Hubbell Lighting in Christiansburg one morning in June. "I was listening to my voice mail and it was Dad, but his voice sounded weird."
The next time she heard from Lucas, he was calling from the doctor's office and he was crying. Something was terribly wrong.
On June 16, Lucas had been with friends in Roanoke when he was overcome with a strange sensation. His arm and leg began to feel numb. Disturbed but hopeful that it would pass, he booked a room for the night. Morning dawned with no improvement. Two days later, his condition had deteriorated so dramatically that the entire right side of his body was
paralyzed.
When the diagnosis of stroke was finally made, doctors found evidence he had suffered at least six strokes previously without noticeable symptoms.
Lucas and his family were stunned. His blood pressure was perilously high in spite of his active lifestyle and fit appearance. Dena and her husband, Frankie, rushed to his aid, along with her sister, Hope, and even their mother, Lucas' ex-wife.
He had no insurance to cover the physical therapy bills. He also had no intention of remaining an invalid.
By the time Lucas was moved from the intensive care unit to a private room, he had already mapped his own course back to health. Love of dance would be his compass. Determination powered his faltering steps.
Lucas asked his daughter to bring him a rubber ball. He began physical therapy by struggling to clutch it. He did leg and arm lifts as he lay in bed. In time, he was able to exercise his weakened leg by grasping the hospital gurney and performing knee bends.
A week later, he was able to return home. There, he continued to progress by leaning against the wall and walking the length of his apartment 50 times morning and night.
"He is just a unique person," concludes Sue Brozovsky, Joseph's mother. "He is a true-life inspiration."
Paralysis isn't the first challenge Lucas has overcome in devotion to dance. He's suffered from severe rheumatoid arthritis since he was a teen-ager. A doctor once advised him to find a new profession and predicted he would be confined to a wheelchair before he was out of his 20s. "I left that doctor's office and I said 'I will be teaching dance no matter what.'"
He did, too. For more than 30 years he taught dance in Giles County, with brief interruptions to study and dance in Winston-Salem, N.C., and New York City. In 1990, he moved his studio to Christiansburg; it draws students from as far away as Wytheville, Floyd, Roanoke and Radford.
His students and their families inundated Lucas with cards, balloons and visits while he was in the hospital. Parents lent their support to his struggle after he came home. They brought food, typed schedules and ran errands. They drove Lucas to the doctor, the grocery store and the aquatic center. Senior student Amy Greene taught classes for one week.
Accepting such help was probably the hardest thing for Lucas to do, according to those who know him.
Naturally, Lucas has had moments of doubt and even depression. His favorite fried and salty foods are strictly off limits. "I'm going to have to be a monk!" he said theatrically. Yet Lucas, who once thought nothing of eating out three times a day, now cooks healthy meals for himself.
By the third week after his stroke, Lucas was back in class, preparing his teams for their part at national competitions in Myrtle Beach. They were triumphant, bringing back top honors in several categories.
"He was terribly worried that the kids wouldn't come back for classes. I don't know if he thought much about the stroke I think he was focused on September," said Maria Rossi, a fitness teacher whose three daughters attend his classes. Registrations are steady, however. When Ideas in Motion begins its sixth year of operation this fall, Lucas will be teaching jazz, tap, ballet and gymnastics to more than 100 children.
Now that Lucas has learned to cook, what's his recipe for recovery? A bushel of determination, well seasoned with years of experience. Add meditation at regular intervals. And for the final enrichment, love of dance and the students he teaches. It's not a dish anyone can cook, but it's an inspiration to all who have shared it.
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: GENE DALTON/Staff. Corky Lucas keeps an eye on thisby CNByoung students during tap dancing lessons in his Christiansburg
studio. color.