The Importance of Imagery in Creating Collective Joy
About 32 years ago I was at a bat mitzvah. The DJ was playing such great music, no one could stay in their seats. It was then I began thinking that in some ways, that is what I do as a dance/movement therapist with people with dementia.
At the nursing home where I worked, I saw a few minutes of a DJ who came to perform for the residents. He was playing the Macarena. He had staff perform it in the middle, facing the residents and doing the Macarena. The residents were clapping and enjoying it, but they weren't dancing. I asked him to play it again, but this time, get the residents engaged. He repeated the instructions he had given the first time - nothing changed. I realized he didn't know how to adapt his cues so the residents could join in. So I approached the recreation department head who had hired him and asked if I could facilitate the session the following month. I got the okay.
That was the beginning of Dance Thursdays, a fabulously successful monthly gig where I began leading groups for as many as 75 residents. I encouraged aides to bring people in geri chairs as well as people who could stand up and dance. When I led the Macarena, I asked them to keep touching some part of their body, and now shake. It was such a joyous affair that family members would come so they could see their loved ones having such a good time.
DJ Dancin' Donna is one of the images I hold when l bring dance to older adults and people with dementia, a persona, if you will. Finding one's personal images is one of the topics I teach when I train people to bring dance to older adults and people with dementia. Topics range from the theoretical to the practical. All you need to bring is a love of dance and a desire to dance with this population.