Piloting tango workshops during 2019’s Year in Movement
With a goal to enrich our arts curricula by celebrating the art of tango and freedom of expression in older adults, Arts for the Aging and the Embassy of Argentina launched a series of tango workshops at one of the dozens of communities we serve in the Greater Washington D.C. region. The series was co-created by mentoring teaching artists from Arts for the Aging, and performing artists from ROMEZ3arts, Tango Brillante DC and Tango Mercurio. Over six weeks we came together at Downtown Clusters Geriatric Day Care Center in Washington, D.C. --- artists, seniors, care givers, intergenerational volunteers --- for weekly workshops specially designed to spark socialization and self-expression in vulnerable older adult and care partner populations. Click here and here for photos and video from the culminating workshop, Milonga at Downtown Clusters, and from our weekly community-based tango workshop series August 1 - September 5, 2019.
Island Dreams
Arts for the Aging programs returned to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Senior Center and Knox Hill Apartments in Washington, D.C.'s Ward 8. Residents took part in specially designed programs bringing works from The Phillips Collection alive through music, dance and art-making. Participants focused on the museum's retrospective of 92-year-old Cuban artist Zilia Sánchez. Ms. Sánchez reflected on her life and 70-year career in her exhibition Soy Isla (I am an Island). At the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Senior Center, teaching artists Peter Burroughs and Fairouz Foty brought their experiences performing in Cuba to the group through music and dance, and teaching artist Marcie Wolf Hubbard connected the content with hands-on art-making. At Knox Hill Senior Apartments, participants enjoyed Moving Art, merging modern art and movement to explore how the modalities connect. Teaching Artists Nancy Havlik and Marcie Wolf Hubbard brought works from the Zilia Sánchez exhibition to life-inspiring collaged art books. Both groups took field trips to The Phillips Collection for a special tour led by museum educator, Donna Jonte. They interacted with several large pieces by Sánchez, including her Lunar con tatuaje (Moon with Tattoo), creating imaginative storylines connecting images (the 'tattoos') drawn on the sculpture. Arts for the Aging teaching artists led them in turning those stories and ideas into movement in the gallery space. Click here for photos from the series. What's next? Program participants at Alexandria Adult Day Services Center eagerly await a September visit to the Phillips to see The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement. They are already creating art inspired by the exhibition's theme of inclusion for migrant populations.
Community Look-In with Arts for the Aging at Dance Exchange
Friends, families and community members experienced a Quicksilver rehearsal during our Community Look-In on May 6 at Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, MD. Quicksilver is Arts for the Aging's improvisational senior dance company. Guests were invited to join Quicksilver on the dance floor for movement warm-ups. Later the company performed a piece lovingly created in memory of Quicksilver dancer Jaya Adiga, who passed away earlier this year, that incorporated her collection of colorful scarfs. The event concluded with a presentation, talk-back, and reception with Quicksilver co-directors and dancers. Thank you, Dance Exchange, for hosting our dance company’s weekly rehearsals this year. We look forward to continuing and growing our partnership next season.
Vote for AFTA: Named Finalist for Major Award
Arts for the Aging is honored to be named a finalist in the 2019 #RenewalAwards from @TheAtlantic and @Allstate. We are among just 15 nonprofits across the country being recognized for driving positive change through social innovation around America’s most pressing problems. Five winners, to be announced at a national symposium and ceremony in spring 2019, will each receive $20,000 in funding from Allstate. Please vote for us, between now and March 1, at https://therenewalawards.theatlantic.com/ and help us spread the word!
