SSF Presents: Dance is Like a Fine Wine

Dance is Like a Fine Wine is an arts-based creative aging program forming intergenerational connections for older adults.

with support from
Next50 Initiative logoCity of Lafayette Arts & Cultural Resources logoBoulder County Arts Alliance logo

EACH MONTHLY PROGRAM INCLUDES:

  • a film screening
  • a post-screening discussion
  • a dance class
  • and is free for adults age 60 and better

In 2019, SSF started our Creative Aging program, Dance is Like a Fine Wine. Specific to older adult audiences in Assisted Living, Memory Care, and nonresidential older adult centers, SSF hosted screenings featuring films with dancers of all ages from around the world.

an older man with light skin looks through his hands, shaped like glasses
dancers of various ages and abilities, including one in a wheelchair, stretch arms out beside a pond
a joyful looking woman in a jean jacket raises her finger in the air while walking past an open shop on a city street
two women sit at a table; one uses her fingers to mimic a dancer's legs

The films were very favorably received, with a lively discussion afterwards. Due to the pandemic, SSF had to put expanded programming on hold for a time, but since the fall of 2021 – thanks to NextFifty Initiative funding and a grants from the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission and Boulder County Arts Alliance – SSF has been running this program regularly in Lafayette, Boulder, and Longmont, Colorado and expanding it every year.

what does a Dance is Like a Fine Wine event look like?

several older adults sit in chairs, watching dance films projected onto a screen in the common area of their living center

1. At each DILAFW event, dance films will be screened which feature diverse bodies across the age spectrum, with a special focus on older dancers. These films are pulled from SSF’s 20-year archive of international dance films, featuring diversity of age, gender, race, dance style, geography, production values, and more.

2. Following the films (with captions for the hearing impaired and audio description for the visually impaired when possible), a dance/movement class designed for older movers of all abilities will ignite creativity, encourage physical exercise, and instigate cognitive stimulation for participants, all while forming intergenerational bonds between the facilitators and participants.

a young, dark-skinned man gives one-on-one dance instruction to an elderly light skinned woman, holder her hands while he dances slowly with her

3. The majority of these dance classes will include elements of improvisation to centralize choice-making and maximize the opportunity for artistry. In Memory Care facilities, we utilize more follow-along structures, to avoid cognitive fatigue.

eight older adults in stand in a circle with their arms up, following the instruction of a young woman

Sans Souci Festival is a nonprofit organization, so you can help support this program with a tax-deductible contribution. If you’d like to earmark your donation for Dance is Like a Fine Wine specifically, please include a special note with your donation, and we’ll be more than happy to redirect the funds to our creative aging program.

a ballerina holds a toddler on her chest while she stretches her legs on a bar in a dance studio
an older woman with white hair looks at the camera, while other dancers around her blur out of focus
an older woman plays an accordion while a younger woman watches and dances behind her
an older dancer and a younger dancer tapping in a graffiti filled warehouse

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    Unless otherwise noted, all Dance is Like a Fine Wine events are restricted to residents of the older adult residential facilities in which they take place.