Patricks Story
My name is Patrick Kasper.
When I was growing up in North Dakota in the seventies and eighties I was an overweight kid with a passion for one thing, food. After school I would sit for hours in front of the television and consume ice cream, chips, and soda for hours on end. This led to weight gain and unhappiness because I could not keep up with my four brothers or friends on the sporting fields.
I had a deep down desire to dance, move, play and be free of the body that slowed me down, but every time I would participate in activities, I would just get more and more frustrated with not being able to keep up. Drill instructor P.E. teachers yelling at us while we played dodge ball and badminton at school were not educating us or guiding us towards fit and healthy lifestyles and I did not find the exercises entertaining so and I would quickly lose interest and revert back to my lazy habits.
Nutrition in school was also greatly lacking. A huge can of greasy peanut butter in the lunchroom and candy bars out of the machine for dessert every day didn't help my ever-growing physique and having my mom buy "Husky" jeans for me at J.C.Penny's did not help my fragile, teen male ego.
POSITIVE role models were few and far between and I could never get into MOTION.
Then I got lucky. My brother was in an outdoor theatrical production near our house. Every night I would sit on the grassy hill watching - amazed at what was happening on stage. There were dancers and singers in POSITIVE MOTION performing and sweating and having fun while they rehearsed the show. I was blown away on opening night as I shared this experience with an audience that was as enthusiastic for the magic that was happening through those kids as I was.
My brother told me they were doing another show the next summer and finally I had a reason to get off the couch. I was finally invited to share in something I was passionate about!
The next year I trained the best I knew how. I took gym more seriously. I made broomball a choreographed ice dance. I participated in theater at my high school. I and began to grow and lose some of my "baby fat". I had my dream but, like so many others, I lacked a direction, plan, and/or mentor to help me attain my goal in an intelligent, mindful manner. The weight loss I experienced was partly due to skipping meals, which led to low energy in both mind and body, making it difficult to do the activities I was losing the weight to for.
I trudged on with blatant stupidity and started running and exercising with trash bag like rubber suits in the heat to lose those pounds and jumped around in my room frantically trying to learn to dance. Many of my methods were unorthodox and unsafe, but somehow, despite it all, I luckily ended up getting a role in the show PIPPIN.
I was now part of a TEAM working toward a GOAL and I was doing it with people who shared my passion for how satisfying it is to rehearse and perform and enjoy the hard process. That summer I was able to experience the feeling that I had only dreamed of the year before because I put my POSITIVE MOTION plan into action. They say, "The harder you work the luckier you get".
That came true for me when two renowned choreographers who had been in the audience saw me and offered me a scholarship to their dance studio. They were able to look past my novice and sometimes clumsy footwork and see the passion and spark in my eyes that was bursting from my heart. I now had mentors.
The next six years I spent training in jazz, ballet, tap, and modern dance and performing in several professional productions while finding time to play sports in high school and getting a scholarship to college. For me the process was always as rewarding as the end result so I wanted to do everything.
During the summer before college I was introduced to aerobics classes at the local gym and asked to teach. I was coming from the dance world and was not impressed at first but when I found out I could take the basics and mold the class to my talents I was energized and I passed that enthusiasm along to my class every morning at 6 a.m. At this time I was also performing in a show until the late night hours. I found that even when I was having a hard time getting motivated in the early morning that the joy I got from the class made me excited to be there every day.
I went to college and was dancing, teaching aerobics, and even doing a kids exercise show on a local T.V. channel called J.U.M.P! (Junior Upcoming Mobile People). I was now one of those people on stage at the outdoor theater and I had everything I had dreamed of.
Then it happened. I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my back that would require surgery. I was devastated and convinced myself I would never dance again. I reverted back to that adolescent that had no confidence in my body and no motivation and, since all my friends were at dance class and playing sports, I went back to my old friend... food.
I spent the next three months in virtual isolation feeling like I was all alone in the world. Even though I had an incredible, loving family around me I did not take notice. My confidence was shot, my body fat increasing, and I was afraid to move because I feared my back (and my spirit) could be broken too easily. As luck would have it, one day while lying on my couch I was watching T.V. and Richard Simmons came on and said he was coming to town. I went and watched him inspire a huge gym of people of all shapes and sizes. These were not the incredibly toned dancers and gym rats that I had been sweating with but normal, everyday people who had busy, full lives but wanted to feel good about themselves.
I came to the understanding that I should quit feeling sorry for myself and I realized that many Americans, especially children, struggled with nutrition and exercise JUST LIKE ME. I decided to share my newfound passion anywhere I could. I moved to Los Angeles and though it seemed like I was the only person who believed a fat kid from North Dakota could make it in the world as a health and fitness professional I persevered.
I got constant POSITIVE feedback about the MOTION we were doing in class and I received many compliments, but to me we were doing it together. It wasn't just my class. The students got out of it what they put into it. It was their class. I was simply the messenger.
I spent enough time alone as a kid jumping around in circles and I was now realizing it is much easier and much more fun and satisfying to do it as a group. I have had the opportunity to travel all over the world spreading my POSITIVE MOTION message and the feedback has been incredible. I found the most satisfaction in instructing master classes for teenagers and teaching in-school residencies.
I recognized myself so many times in the smiles of the children and also in the pain and sadness I sometimes saw in there eyes; however, once they began jumping around in POSITIVE MOTION they seemed to get inspired by the movement. POSITIVE MOTION can help take away that sadness and pain and leave a permanent smile on your face.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to reach all the children with my POSITIVE MOTION message. It disturbs me when I see the almost daily report on the news about over weight or depressed children with no ambition, goals or role models.
I was one of those kids and know now I was not alone in my feelings. I want kids today to know they are not alone. We can reach all the kids - happy, sad, overweight, underweight, average, smart, struggling - and it is my GOAL to be a mentor to those kids and get them motivated, setting goals, and moving and succeeding in POSITIVE MOTION!
Patrick Kasper
701-212-5143
Patrick.kasper@usa.net
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