practical living
Everybody dance now
Swinging tunes and fancy feet bring people together
from all over at bi-annual Melbourne bash.
By Dallas Bastian and Andrew Bracey
C
ollingwood Town Hall was recently flooded with sounds of
a big band and dancing feet, as residents, staff, volunteers,
family and friends from about 20 aged-care organisations
came together to celebrate life.
The theme of the Melbourne event, Rio Carnival, and a 27-piece
big band called Huffers and Puffers, helped draw about 300
people to the hall.
The manager of the Brotherhood of St Laurence Sambell
Lodge, Paul Brophy, says that among those in attendance were
a number of students, who helped set up the celebrations and
stayed behind after the music stopped to talk about what the
event meant to them.
“We talked to one young girl, she said wholeheartedly [that
she didn’t have any confidence going into it],” Brophy says. “She
told us that she didn’t feel she could dance and then was asked
by an elderly gentleman to dance and that had given her such
confidence – now she has a renewed sense of enthusiasm and
confidence to be able to get up and dance.
“It doesn’t matter if you can’t dance – you’re up and moving
and that’s what it’s about. Another girl who was talking to one
of the residents from an aged-care home said the lady was
saying she had been married for 57 years and she wished that
more people such as this young student [would ultimately
have a marriage or partnership] that would last that long. It’s
about capturing the stories from the seniors in our society, our
community. This was wonderful and it means so much to the
students from the college.”
Brophy says the bi-annual event, held since 2006, is a big
collaboration. “I work with people from aged-care organisations
far and wide,” he explains. “This year, we had people from
Preston, Northcote, Camberwell, Balwyn, South Melbourne,
South Yarra, St Kilda – everyone wants to get on board
when they hear about it. It’s also a chance to bring together
people f