One of the most exciting new ventures for Ballet Arizona’s Education & Community Engagement work is our Creative Aging program. One inevitable truth in life is we are all getting older but that doesn’t mean our creativity needs to stop.
Our first Creative Aging program launched in November of 2016 through a partnership with Benevilla Senior Living Center and the Virginia G. Piper Trust. Two teachers from The School of Ballet Arizona engaged in a six-week dance workshop with a group of seniors dealing with dementia. Working with the Center’s physical therapists and occupational therapists, our faculty developed classes that not only exercised their bodies but also their minds, working through ideas of truth, life, and nature.
Our most recent project was a ten-week dance workshop at Sunny Slope Senior Center, made possible by a grant from Season for Sharing that culminated in a performance. An 80-year-old first time ballerina reveled in the afterglow of her first ballet performance and exclaimed,
“Dancing ballet has always been a lifelong dream. Who would have thought I would be able to do it this late in life!”
Creative programming for aging populations has been strongly associated with decreasing medical costs for the individuals and centers. The intrinsic benefits are so much more… they utilize memory function, increase body awareness, explore their own creativity, and experience the dance community in new ways.
We are incredibly proud to be able to bring programs to community members of all ages and backgrounds. For more information about our Creative Aging program or any of our other programs contact Joseph Cavanaugh at jscavanaugh@balletaz.org
