“The Importance of Being Wilde”: Experiencing the play (and benefits) of the arts in later life

Pamela Brett-MacLean, PhD
Krista Charbonneau, MA

“When I did a public reading many years ago of ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’ by Dylan Thomas, I felt a thrill, a quickening, a fluttering in my heart that was really quite magnificent. It took my breath away.”
These are among the first words that Julian shared with us, during our initial meeting with a group of residents living in a retirement home in Vancouver. Julian had a remarkable sideways lean to his gait, which only added to his theatrical presence, inspired – I imagined – by a lifelong love of theatre and performance. Seven core members made up the theatre group, aged from 75 to over 90 years of age. All were committed to enjoying the pleasures of reading plays. We were working on graduate degrees (interdisciplinary studies - PBM, and theatre studies - KC) and shared an interest in the positive contributions of the arts engagement in later life. Responding to the participants’ stated preference for engaging with theatre, we developed a structured, historical approach to learning about and reading comedies which we called “Laughing Across the Ages.” 

An Interview with Jack Coggins, Mouth Painter

(with Jeff Natchigall, interviewer)

WILL YOU CONTINUE PAINTING?

Well, the Irish are nothing if they’re not obsessive. Once we latch on to something we explore it passionately for as long as it takes until we know the medium... like poetry it’s very elusive… it’s got a rhythm and an excitement to it, that I find very passionate.

I’ve explored music. I’ve explored the physical aspect of my being with tai chi… concentrating on your surroundings and emptying your mind. I also practice Transcendental Meditation which allows me to explore deep relaxation… and now trying to heal my body… to the best of my ability, but also to heal my mind and adapt to new things that will express my creative talent. So my art has become my passion… as much as history, because in many ways, the images I paint are history; History of our totems; History of our Inukshuk; History of the Tori Gate. All these represent symbols that are universal in all of us. Through my art I’ve discovered images that help my healing process that are autobiographical… like the Inukshuks, the stone men against the prairie landscape in winter… that’s me, that I’m frozen in stone because I have so little use of my body. So I’m there observing the coming, the changing of the seasons. The coming of winter… the beginning of spring… blossoming into summer, and then into fall, autumn… we can see the world in a blade of grass.

I have so much energy. I expressed it through my teaching. I expressed it through my music. I expressed it through my cycling… not so much observing the landscape, but experiencing it… I cycled for 55 years until my accident… and then it all ended abruptly.

You’ve tapped a source of energy… I’ve been so frustrated in my own personal life that I was ready to explode with anger and thoughts of self destruction and just to end the misery… and art gave me another life again, and you were a big part of that.

The art has restored my self-esteem, teaching restores my self esteem. I still have a head.

Moving Towards Dance for Older Adults

by Mary Jane Warner, Department of Dance, York University

I began dance classes at a young age and assumed that I would always have the satisfaction of taking a dance class. As I aged the classes became increasingly difficult, especially after two hip replacements in my sixties. Typical of the older adult, my balance and flexibility declined, getting to and from the floor was increasingly difficult, and jumps had to be limited in both height and quantity. No longer able to keep up with much younger classmates, I began looking for dance classes for older but active adults, but there didn’t seem to be much available in my community.

Not able to find appropriate dance classes, I turned to fitness classes. Those geared to the 55 plus age group were not sufficiently challenging but regular low impact classes and a personal trainer were alternative options that enabled me to recover from hip surgery and to keep my body in reasonable condition. But something was always missing in these alternative fitness classes that made them less satisfying than my previous dance classes.

What were the missing ingredients?