Move It Or Lose It

One day a participant to my, and their, surprise shouted "Move It or Lose It," a statement capturing candid determination, resilience, vulnerability and celebration.  These moments are openings for artistic collaboration and creative devices. These moments take various forms – a simple gesture holding body wisdom, reflecting the body as an archive; A presence taking up space and finding confidence; We discover “physical limitations” as openings for new perspectives. In four months, I witnessed a group of people transform into a “dance club”, a community.  Over “coffee break”, we talk a lot about transition and passing. I wonder -  how to “move it” as we age, dancing as an approach to living.

Working with seniors, I have witnessed how the body changes with time, and dealing with the ending of the body is unruly. Through my dance practice- in its multiforms - I've gained skills and strategies to care for others.

Recently, a participant asked me if I could make a YouTube channel to follow outside our sessions. When I took a deeper look, I found many YouTube videos of movement for Senior, but many are based on functional exercise and not integrating dancing, furthermore, they were performed by super fit, even if aging, and rarely looked like the dance community we have created together. This project is a creative response.

This project centers on seniors, a group often overlooked and isolated and not the typical image of dancers “on display”.   A need to not fear aging or disregard it - to use movement to capture emotions and experiences that come with transition, to exercise and feel healthy, and to find solace in all the stages and ages of the body.