Success Stories
Janie
Janie began dancing with us at the Southwest Senior Center DayElder program in 2001. She said that she wasn’t much of a dancer when she was young. At the Dancing Heart playshops, Janie found she especially enjoyed the mirror dance and dancing with the school children. She compared dancing to going to church. One Dancing Heart day, she shared how she had surprised the folks in her church that Sunday. She had gone to the front of the sanctuary. “People were expecting me to sing. Instead I started dancing the mirror dance. I just closed my eyes and danced.” After performing with Kairos Dance one evening Janie said, “With every performance we make I feel better and better…It makes me so joyous that I can make people feel happy. At this age, I’ve still got something in there!”
Moses
Moses began dancing with Kairos as part of The Dancing Heart at Walker Methodist Health Center Senior Club in 2003. At first Moses would take brief spins on the dance floor and sit down. Moses became a regular performer with Kairos Dance in 2005. In 2006 he joined us for our premiere at the Greater Harlem Nursing Home in New York City with saxophonist Irv Williams. Moses says that his favorite kind of dance is a slow dance because he likes to dance close. Irv Irv Williams, our artistic collaborator for more than two years, has just produced his latest CD at age 88. He titled it “Finality” because he thought this could be “his last CD.” That idea has gone out the window just like his decision to retire. He told us that he is ready to do another big performance with Kairos. We suggested that his next album could be called “Son of Finality.”
Helen
When we first met Helen, she would run away from us. She didn’t interact, and was very uncomfortable and nervous. Soon, she became more comfortable when we came to visit. She slowly became more involved and started dancing with us. We discovered she loved country music, so we brought it into the program. Now Helen is engaging others in our performances and in every aspect of her life.
Diane
“Life is like a library and we are all books in the library. We just need to take the time to read each other’s story.” When we first entered Diane’s life, she said, “Who would want to look at me dancing?” Now Diane is a confident performer who rehearses regularly, performs in New Jersey, and is helping others dance.
Ocie Mae
Ocie Mae passed on at the vibrant age of 91. We first met Ocie Mae at the Southwest Senior Center in 2001 through our Dancing Heart program. A born performer, she joined Kairos Dance Theatre as a company member in 2003, traveling with us to San Francisco and Philadelphia and charming audiences everywhere with her big heart and generous spirit. We miss her dearly and remember her story that lives on in Dances of the Heart: “God came to me and told me that I need to take care of the children and the elder people. When you do good, good will come back to you.”
Other notable quotes about our success
“There is something quite moving about watching seventeen people of varying cultural and ethnic backgrounds, ages and skill levels creating enjoyable, entertaining and even profound dances together. It's as if you're watching a little working-model of patience, care and respect. And, you find yourself, for an hour or so, rediscovering your faith in humanity and believing that art can heal, that dance is ritual and world-making, and that a theater can be a sacred space.”
—Reggie Prim, MN Fringe Festival
“Kairos embodies the commitment to vital involvement lifelong that the Vital Aging Network (VAN) espouses. I have seen the revitalizing power of artistic expression while ‘chair dancing’ with the ‘disabled’ elders in the adult day care program at the Southwest Senior Center. I have seen that dancing is the best route to wellness because it integrates physical, mental, social and emotional exercise. I have seen the power of Kairos to create community across generations, and across the distance from the stage to the audience.”
—Janet M. Hively, Ph.D. Senior Fellow, University of Minnesota College of Continuing Education Senior Advisor, Vital Aging Network
