In September, Ballet Arizona launched a six-week Creative Aging ballet workshop in partnership with Benevilla Senior Day Care Services. This pilot program offers curriculum that welcomes seniors as active participants in the dance community through Arizona’s premiere ballet company.

“Today, we’re living the longest we’ve ever lived before. When we’re young, we’re encouraged to move, exercise, grow, and mature. Then somehow it stops being a focus. We become watchers instead of doers.  Energy in motion tends to stay in motion.  Let’s keep moving.” – Joseph Cavanaugh, Community Education and Outreach Manager

Studies show that movement and dance produce not only strong physical benefits, but cognitive ones too. Coordination is required to take in the notes of the music and translate them it into movement. This requires all the parts of your body to work in unison connecting the body and mind in synchrony.

Under the expertise of The School of Ballet Arizona teachers, Fabiolo Ambrosio and Kay Murray-Price, Benevilla members are led through a ballet class.  The movement is modified as many of the participants have physical limitations.  Instead of a barre, the class begins in chairs.  The dancers are then taken through a routine that emphasizes connection to body, mind, and spirit.  This social and creative workshop emphasizes the need for movement, regardless of age, and provides a welcoming environment where seniors can actively participate with their peers to experience the joy of dance.  The Creative Aging workshop will culminate with a class demonstration for family, friends and other Benevilla visitors.

Ballet Arizona is able to provide this opportunity free of charge to Benevilla thanks to the generosity and support of people like you! For more information about our Creative Aging programming, please contact Joseph Cavanaugh at jscavanaugh@balletaz.org