Overcoming Ageist Ideas

Overcoming Ageist IdeasI am not going to lie, I was an ageist before this class.  Even walking into the first class, I was skeptical about how it was going to go.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Working with the senior volunteers these past few weeks has definitely opened up my eyes to a lot of things.  It has been so interesting to see the differences between the student and the senior volunteers.  During the first class, it was apparent that the professional students were extremely self conscious but most of the senior volunteers were not shy or afraid to experiment with the different dance motions.  It has been so fun watching everyone grow more and more comfortable week by week.  Sharon, my PAL, has so much spunk.  Most of the senior volunteers have so much more movement in them than I thought possible.  A lot of people underestimate the abilities of seniors, especially when they see a walker.  But, this past weekend, a PAL with a walker performed a beautiful duet with one of the pharmacy students.  It was amazing to see how someone who I thought was going to have so little movement create something so beautiful.

Attending this class has definitely eliminated any fear that I may have had about aging.  The fact that all of the older PALs have made it clear that you can age beautifully and you learn so much along the way is inspiring.  I never saw myself being friends with any of the PALs really but I have a dinner date planned with Alice and Sharon this Friday.  Overall, I am so grateful that I was given and took this opportunity to work with all the PALs in the PALETTE program.

Shivangi Bhatt, graduate student in Pharmacy

Pushing Beyond the Comfort Zone

Pushing Beyond the Comfort ZoneDay two of class was much more comfortable than the first class. I honestly had no idea what to expect when signing up for this dance class, but the movements required of us during the first class were nothing that I had ever tried before, and by the end, I was still feeling a bit uncomfortable. While we repeated many of the same motion activities today, I was much more comfortable and was able to find a lot more enjoyment in the movement. During the choreography section I even really began to feel like we were expressing something through our movement, and we were creating art. I think the class generally was more comfortable with each other, and more comfortable moving together, which may have helped the creative juices flow.

I signed up for the class because I was excited about the intergenerational component. Today I was able to speak a little more in depth with some of the senior volunteers and enjoyed learning more about their interesting lives, but also to learn that they too were motivated to sign up for the class because of the intergenerational component. With both sides wanting to engage with, develop relationships with and learn from the other, makes for a really beautiful dynamic in the class.

Cara Whiting, graduate student in Physical Therapy

Enough Positive Energy to Fill the Grand Canyon

Grand CanyonFirst off, I love every second of our Sunday afternoon sessions together! Seeing the room light up with positivity is an invigorating instance to be a part of. Being a dance and choreography major we can get lost in the rigor of our program and tend to only associate with other dance majors, our faculty members and on occasion other arts-based disciplines. This program is a nice way to ground myself in the reasons why I even began dancing when I was 8, and that being the fact that it’s just fun. I love seeing how willing everyone in the program is to participate and jumps right into a new art form without any hesitation! Whether the other participants know it or not, it is a wonderful learning experience, as a dancer, to see how dance-centered tasks get translated to non-dancer bodies of all ages. Working with different age groups and scientific disciplines creates a lovely dynamic in the space that establishes community and collaboration because everyone has something different to bring to the movement studies.

Todays work was stimulating to watch and be a part of because I could see peoples faces light up when they saw their own choreography come to life on other people! Working with Alice was a joy specifically because she went full out from the start of our choreographic exploration together! Another aspect of today that I had fun toying with was the memory component of the movement studies because it made people feel like they were working together to make something beautiful. Memory is a large part of dance and choreography so I’m sure people are beginning to trust this art form and fully submerge themselves in something completely new. I always know I can count on the short time we all have together to be an uplifting part of my week and I’ll always have a smile on my face while participating in this program! This integrated program also lets the different generations understand each other in a non-verbal way that we can all communicate with. For example, when we are all together it isn’t about how old or young you are or even how much or how little you’ve danced in your life its just about being together and present in the task at hand while generating enough positive energy in the room to fill the Grand Canyon!

Danielle Frye, student in Dance

Wordless Connections

Worldess ConnectionsToday was the second session of PALETTE in Motion.  I couldn’t wait to enter the same judge-free-zone I had left two weeks earlier.  The friendly and supportive atmosphere achieved during the first session had relieved all of my initial hesitations about dancing in front of strangers; I had quickly learned that no matter if you were a student or senior volunteer, we were all entering unknown territory and accepting the challenge at hand.  I spent all morning anxiously awaiting the mid-afternoon movement arts class that I knew would make me feel joyous both mentally and physically.  As I entered the dance studio today, I was excited to see new and returning faces.

Our task today was to move beyond spontaneous movements in order to try our hand at choreographed movements.  The eye contact and coordinated actions required during the various exercises allowed me to connect with my groupmates on a deeper level than if we had simply talked amongst ourselves.  My three person team composed of one senior volunteer, another student volunteer, and myself worked together to create a brief movement sequence – complete with a beginning, middle, and end.  Our final product was achieved by giving equal consideration to each other’s ideas and communicating effectively.  I noticed that the senior member of our group exuded confidence as all three of us engaged in this unknown world of choreography; not to mention, she had a huge smile on her face the entire time.  After we completed our routine, we  watched the performance of two student volunteers grouped with a senior volunteer of limited mobility.  It was beautiful to watch as the two student volunteers structured their movements such that they framed the senior member dancing in the middle of the trio.  I left today’s class feeling rejuvenated for the second time in a row.  I only hope that I am as brave and confident as the current senior members when I’m old enough to be a senior member.  Despite having only been with these wonderful senior ladies for such a short amount of time, they have taught me to never stop challenging myself, never underestimate myself, and most importantly, never stop having fun!

Kayla Miller, graduate student in Pharmacy