Scholarship Awardee Update:


ed a unique programfor seniors called the “Silver Swans Ballet Program,” that is held in independent living, assisted living and memory healthcare settings acrossDallas. Classes are ongoing, and the State of Texas isworkingwithKatarina to implement her programming statewide.NBC news, this pastMarch, fea- tured the Silver Swans Ballet Programin a series of newscasts run throughout a single day, and promoted her program nationally across socialmedia. She continuesworking diligent- ly to share, nationally and globally, the benefits and design of her therapeutic ballet programfor seniors – and to inspire oth- ers. Senior citizen advocacy groups as far away asNewZealand have expressed interest in her classes.


K


TB:Whatwas yourmotivation for developing this type of pro- gram?


KJ: I createdmy Silver Swans Ballet Program© as part ofmy


work toward earningmyGirl ScoutGoldAward (the highest award that can be earned). I first got the idea in 2015,while I was studying at the Bolshoi BalletAcademy inMoscow, Russia (theMoscowStateAcademy of Choreography). I heard about dance benefiting seniorswithmental and physical challenges, and I knewthat Iwanted to explore that ideawhen I returned home. Sharing the ballet I love seemed awonderfulmeans of helping aging populations stay as physically andmentally healthy as possible, for as long as possible.


After researching possibilities and developing the idea formy Silver Swans Ballet classes, I consultedwith geriatric nursing specialists, senior’sministry atmy church, adult dance instruc- tors atmy studio, and senior living community staff to create a programout ofmy idea. I also observed a yoga class for inde- pendent and assisted living retirement center residents, and a music therapy class forwheelchair-bound dementia and health care center residents, to get a better feel for varied senior abilities and challenges.


I originally planned to create a 30-minute ballet routine for resi- dents of local senior living centers.When I started visiting retirement centers, and talking aboutmy ideaswith staff, how- ever, not only the independent living, but also the assisted liv- ing, andmemory/health care departmentswere very interested and enthusiastic about the benefits ofmy proposed program for their clients. Itwas clearmy Silver Swans Ballet Program would best be designed as three distinct ballet routines!


I created the first 30-minute routine for fully independent sen- iorswho can stand. The second is also 30minutes, and can be done seated or standing, as participants are varyingly able or interested.And the last is a fully seated, 20-minute ballet class


page 12 February-April 2018 www.thedancecouncil.org Katarina Jakimier and Silver Swans


atarina Jakimier is a 2015 BethWortley Scholarship awardeewho is not only an incredibly talented dancer, but also a truly inspiring young person. In 2017Katarina start-


for retirement community residents in memory and health care units.


I spent a lot of time choreographing all three routines, and then carefully set each to differentmusic. I chose allmusicwith sen- iors inmind: selecting bothmorewell-known classical ballet pieces, and suitable familiar songs frommusicals (such as The Sound ofMusic and The LittleMermaid) that I thought would be both enjoyable and stimulating.


For each participating senior living community, Imade three music CDs (one for each class level), and three teachingDVDs of choreography set to themusic (again, one for each class level). Centers use the CDs for classes daily, and keep theDVDs on file for future reference (in case there is staff turnover, and for reference to the additional 10 to 20minutes of choreo- graphed exercises I included, in case classes need to be changed or varied fromtime to time).All three ofmy Silver Swans Ballet Programroutines have been issuedU.S. copyrights.


TB:Where is the programcurrently offered?


KJ:Girl ScoutGoldAward projects are designed to be self-sus- taining, and to live beyond the involvement of theGirl Scout. Each senior living community that participated inmy Program appointed staff towhomI taughtmy ballet routines. They lead theweekly classes at their respective centers. I specifically designed each ballet class so that someonewith no ballet expe- riencewould be comfortable teaching it. I also recruitedmy home dance studio, the Texas Ballet Theater inDallas, to allow the staff towhomI taughtmy routines to take complimentary ballet classes, so they could becomemore familiarwith ballet. All the retirement center staff towhomI taughtmy three ballet programs adapted quickly - Iwas so impressed!


My project has so far reachedmore than 700 senior citizens, but there also has been tremendous interest both regionally


Pictured: Silver Swans at the barre. DANCE!NORTHTEXAS a publication of the dance council of north texas vol. 21 • no. 1


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