Exploring Our Creative Side
Engaging in Community Arts Brings Unexpected Rewards
by Judith Fertig
“Turning, moving, spinning, dresses swirling, music beating, eyes in contact with a partner, then another, then another, then another, and the fiddle turns a corner, the phrase repeats, the dance repeats. You smile. Your body smiles.”
~ Doug Plummer, photographer and contra dancer, Seattle, Washington
group setting develop a sense of com- munity as they exchange favors (such as meeting to learn lines or loaning painting supplies); identify themselves with a cast, music ensemble or choral group; and develop a sense of trust and expectations of reciprocity.” It also noted, “Through the arts
T
hree years ago, Janine Joslin, a savvy business executive, set her sights on becom-
ing a Dazzler, and today is a proud member of the Leawood, Kansas, chapter of community tap-dancing troupes. “I love to dance and perform, and I felt that had been missing from my own life,” she says. After a friend suggested it, Joslin showed up for her first practice ready to go, wear- ing tights and tap shoes. Potential Dazzlers must
prove they’ve learned the routines before being selected to perform for the public. Luckily, says Joslin, “I’m a quick study,” and soon took her place in this 50-and-up wom- en’s group that likes to routinely Shuffle Off to Buffalo at area retirement facilities, church halls and special events.
Learning the stop-
and-go, Broadway- style routines such as Steppin’ Out and Millie is more of a mental challenge than aerobic exercise, comments Joslin. “The main thing is it exercises your brain.”
16 NA Twin Cities Edition Performing for
appreciative groups is a great feeling, she notes, and helps make the twice-weekly practices worth- while. Just being around inspir- ing women has
helped Joslin look
at aging differently. She’s now applying her business skills to set up her troupe’s first website. Joslin’s experi-
ence proves what many dancers, art- ists, writers, actors and musicians know: Active, hands-on, group participation in the arts is ben- eficial on many
levels.
National Trend In a recent study commissioned by the Wallace Foundation, Gifts of the Muse: Reframing the Debate About the Ben- efits of the Arts, the researchers found that, “People that engage in arts in a
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of ethnic traditions—such as classical Indian dance, Jamaican steel drums or Japanese raku ceramics—participants develop and maintain their cultural heritage and communicate their cul- tural identity to outsiders.”
Gateway Experiences Most art disciplines can be experienced at any age. No previous training or abil- ity is required, just a curious spirit and willingness to participate and learn. Fun options range from a painting party, in which participants set up an easel and paint a canvas at Uncork’d Art, in Washington, D.C. (Un corkdArt. com), to African drumming at Drum- Rise, in De- catur, Georgia (
DrumRise.net). “A drumming class
is a
great way to reduce stress, have fun, relax and reenergize, all at the same time; it has even been shown to posi- tively affect your immune system,” say co-founders Amy Jackson and Colleen Caffrey. Such activities allow us to dabble
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