Category Archives: community program

Dancing at Our Place

Want to dance like no one’s watching? There are free drop-in dance sessions on Fridays at 1pm at Our Place (919 Pandora Ave.), on the second floor in the interfaith chapel.

Art of 8 people dancing in front of a rainbow, three seated and five standing; below is a heart, humminbird and music notes
Creative Momentum art by Naomi Kennedy.

No prior dance experience needed. (-:

On Fridays we’ll do a simple warm-up and then a variety of dance activities. The focus is on moving in new ways, releasing stress, being creative & having fun.

The overall style is freestyle / dance improvisation, with guided activities, where we each choose how we feel like moving & interacting. Music requests so far have been rock, reggae, swing, disco, hip hop, salsa, Arabic, soca, dub, + more ideas are very welcome.

You are welcome to dance seated, or to stand. Activities are adapted for the group. Facilitated by JoanneQuestions? Ask Joanne on Friday just before 1pm or be in touch. The sessions began in September and will continue over the winter until February.

Accessibility: To use the elevator to access the second floor, please ask at the front desk. To confirm in advance that the elevator is working, or to check about the width of the doorway into the chapel, call Our Place 250-388-7112.

Septembery highlights

Dance programs in September have been a lot of fun! I have had a splendid time connecting and moving with so many new participants.

A few highlights:

  • A rowdy group of dancers aged 4 to around 84 all laughing and grooving together;
  • A participant, in his 40s, mentioned a couple of times that the dance session was the first time he had ever danced while sober, which he said was something he had always wanted to do;
  • Full houses for both Dancing for Brain Health demos this month (for an overview of the demos see this post).

Photo: 7 adults in a circle around a sun-shaped prop, each holding a strandThere were 174 unique participants at sessions in September – including a new record for me of 128 new participants in one month. I facilitated sessions at 14 different locations, including 7 new places, in a lovely time of year for trying out new bike routes between sessions. (For a sample of a week`s programs, see the Joy & cohesion post.)

Joy & cohesion ~ at this week’s programs

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past week of community dance programs; the groups have felt even more uplifting and interconnected than previously.

Below are some compiled anecdotes – things definitely are busy even though community centre classes are on break for the summer! So far this month there have been 81 new people at programs, and this week I have danced with 100 different people. It feels wonderful to make so many connections.

Notes from the past week:

  • Towards the end of last Thursday’s adaptive dance session Photo: 6 people dancing different movesat Garth Homer Society, we were all moving in a circle in the same direction. A participant started doing the grape vine and a staff person mentioned to him that she had not seen him taking such big steps before. Two participants started improvising together in the middle of the circle doing partner dancing. When the program started in February, a staff person observed that “it’s wonderful to see so many clients across a wide range all engaged by the same activity – it’s rare.”
  • That afternoon, after a Dancing for Brain Health demo where 25 members of Seniors’ Social Connections at James Bay Community Project had danced seated in a circle, a participant in her late 70s danced over towards me doing an exuberant Merengue step – we danced together for a bit and she mentioned she planned to dance the whole way out of the building.
  • I began yesterday with Dance Games with a group of 4-6 year olds at a Burnside Gorge Community Association camp. I was amused by how a brand new activity emerged when participants heard my instructions in a different way than I had intended. The participants also had creative suggestions for how to move around and under a giant jelly fish prop. Continue reading Joy & cohesion ~ at this week’s programs

A delightful month

Photo: 7 people posing with their own a dance move
International Dance Day sidewalk party with an awesome group!

It has been a delightful month of dance – thank-you to everyone who has been part of it!

From improv with a lovely group at the International Dance Day sidewalk dance party, to adventures in movement at the Dancing for Brain Health and Dancing for Wellbeing classes, to  joyful connections at day programs and seniors’ residences, and to the past week of workshops and choreographic project with Crystal Pite and Kidd Pivot dancers – I am grateful for the enlivening, interesting month.

(The Kidd Pivot company also performed in town last Wednesday: a brilliant, stunning The Tempest Replica. )

103 years and dancing

An 103-year-old person joined my dance class this morning & rocked it. (-:

…which made me realize the age range I have been mentioning is a bit young; so I have changed the About page to mention Creative Momentum offers dancing, not for “ages 4 to 94+”, but for “ages 4 to 104+.”

And from a video search for “103-year-old dancing” (altho not the same person as this morning): Mary does the Electric Slide.