Moving CareGivers, Let Us Dance About It
Dance is wordless expression made up of gestures and stillness. Dance happens musically in time. Caregiving for an elder happens at a time or times in our lives. Both caregiving and dance occur repeatedly in time. Dancers travel through the space on a theater stage or in public spaces. Giving care to elders occurs in spaces such as homes, hospitals, senior housing and nursing homes. The master skills that both dancers and elder caregivers need are adaptability, creativity, empathy, focus, concentration and the ability to sequence tasks. This workshop uses material from In Time & Space, The CareGivers' Project Program of solo dances commissioned about a unique caregiving story, blends an introduction for non-dance participants about the purposes of dance is across cultures. This workshop concludes with a three minute dance lead by by Rochelle Rice using The CareGivers' Project Signature Moves and those contributed by participants.
Objectives:
To recognize elder caregivers as a cultural community.
To experience a wordless expression of an elder caregiving story.
To participate in a caregiver community dance.
Quotes about dance
"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
Alan W. Watts
"The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie."
Agnes De Mille
"Dance is the hidden language of the soul."
Martha Graham
“Dancing is surely the most basic and relevant of all forms of expression. Nothing else can so effectively give outward form to an inner experience.”
Lyall Watson
Dancers speak about caregiving
"Just as there is a stigma about giving care, there is a stigma on receiving care."
Krishna Washburn
"I don't know any interesting person who's had no trauma. You learn and you get something out of it."
Kerry Milliron
Rochelle Rice demonstrating Signature Moves used in The CareGivers' Project In Time & Space workshops.
We also have a workshop which uses portrait photography. See How We See Caregiving
Thanks to Senior Helpers NYC for helping us develop this workshop. Here is what they had to say:
I think the interactive portion was fantastic. Movement can help the elderly in many ways.
Not only did it get everyone moving, but it helped get the mind going too.
Because everyone is very likely to be a caregiver at some point in their life, There is no one that doesn't need to share some of these insights.
To be able to use professional gestures in dance was very interesting and fun.
It was a wonderful team building activity. Kudos to you.
If you are a group of any size or age range who have an interest in giving care to elders we would like to share our interactive presentation How We See CareGiving: A photographic exploration. Contact us below. We are happy to share this workshop with groups of elders, business professionals, groups of caregivers, or gerontology students.