Posts Tagged ‘dance’

Seniors’ Senior Prom: “Cotton Club”

The 34th annual Seniors' Senior Prom, "Cotton Club," will be held at the Oak Park Arms retirement community. It’s Senior Prom time. Every year sees event venues filled with high school seniors dressed to the nines and enjoying this most special event. Well, it’s not all high school seniors…

A different group of seniors will be the “cat’s meow” at the 34th annual Seniors’ Senior Prom titled, “Cotton Club,” from 7 – 10 p.m. Friday, June 14, at the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The public is warmly welcome to attend and dance the night away.

The Dick Elliot Band will provide the music, standards from the Big Band era -  music that will touch lives, refresh spirits and perhaps most important – rekindle  memories.

In addition, the Legacy Girls will perform their Andrew Sisters act. Appetizers will be served before the prom, and a special dessert is being planned. In addition, there will be exciting drawings for prizes.

At 8 p.m. the Oak Park Arms scholarship will be presented to student Anjelica Hannicke. She has been volunteering at the Timbers for several years and will attend the University of Illinois in the fall.

“It’s always a thrill to present the scholarship,” said Jill Wagner, director of marketing for Oak Park Arms. “Hannicke is simply terrific and she has a bright future. We are very happy to be in a position to help.”

A highlight of the prom is the crowning of the 2013 king and queen who are elected by the residents. A special dance will take place featuring all the kings and queens, past and present.

“Our prom is quite an event,” Wagner said, “The room will be decorated with a roaring twenties theme, and the residents and families have a wonderful time.”

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The prom is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Tango Dance Workshop at the Oak Park Arms

Roberta Kulike will teach a tango dance workshop at the Oak Park Arms retirement community. Roberta Kulik will teach a Tango Dance workshop at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

The tango, also referred to as the dance of love, has influences from European and African culture. Dance is a left-brain/right-brain workout great for coordination, balance and memory.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The workshop is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Delta Dance Crew Auditions

Auditions for the Delta Dance Crew will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

High school students from the western suburbs of Cook County and the Chicagoland area will be competing in the Delta’s Top High School Dance Crew Competition.

The fundraising committee of the Glen Ellyn Area Alumnae Chapter (GEAAC) of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority has put together the competition, whose tagline “Is your Dance Crew C.R.A.Y?” stands for “A Clear Representation of Ambitious Youth.”

The dance competition was inspired by American’s Best Dance Crew (ABDC), a reality TV series in which dance crews from across the country compete to see who has the better moves and is the better crew. This dance fundraising activity strives to showcase the talent of high school students grades nine through 12.

Started in 1977, the GEAAC currently has a membership of nearly 300 college-educated women dedicated to public service, providing the communities it serves with inspiring and impactful programs and events.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Winter Wonderland Variety Show

The public is invited to a “Winter Wonderland Variety Show” and a reception to follow at 1 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 13, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

Hosted by Desi Vasquez, social director at the Arms, the event will be several performances blending into a colorful holiday celebration.

Entertainment will include the Oak Park Arms Chorus, the Resident Reader’s Theatre and members from the monthly tap dance workshop. The Triton Singers, the Mills Orchestra and the Flower’s Reader’s Theatre Group will also perform.

Refreshments will be served following the show at a reception in the Patio Room.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Holiday performance by Noteworthy

The Oak Park River Forest High School show choir will deliver a holiday performance at the Oak Park Arms retirement community. The Oak Park River Forest High School show choir will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave.

The choir, known as “Noteworthy,” is made up of a highly selective group of singers, dancers and live band members.

Under the co-direction of Amber Hooper and Cameron Burgess, the group is now in its second year and has over 30 members. Often compared to the popular TV series “Glee,” the talented teens of Noteworthy belt out pop tunes while dancing to choreography on stage.

The group performs in the Oak Park and River Forest communities and Chicago.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Clyde Park Dancers deliver Ballet Performance

The public is invited to a performance by the Clyde Park Dancers at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave. The Clyde Park dancers, ranging from ages two to nine years old, will perform ballet for the residents and the public in honor of Veterans Day.

Taught by Roberta Kulik, the dancers belong to the Clyde Park District. She has been teaching ballet at the district for more than eight years. Each spring her students put on a recital. For the past three years they have taken part of that recital to residents and the public at the Arms.

This year’s spring recital was titled, “New Crown for the Royal Princess,” with each dance number representing a gem on the crown. At the Arms there will be seven gems performed to modern music.

“To dance is to live,” said Kulik, “and these girls really love to dance.”

Kulik has also been teaching monthly dance workshops at the Arms for over five years.

The Oak Park Arms is a rental retirement community which provides independent and assisted living apartments and a full schedule of activities and services. Furnished apartments are also available for a short-term stay – a weekend, a week, a month or longer.

The event is free and open to the public. Call Jill Wagner at 708-386-4040.

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Would seniors in Oak Park rather do sit-ups or dance?

Dancing at the Oak Park Arms Retirement Community“There are short-cuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” ~Vicki Baum.

Ms. Baum is right. Dancing also can be a short-cut to health – both physically and mentally. According to Brain Fitness For Seniors.com, dancing is a boon to health because it stimulates different areas of the brain. How? Well, it often requires learning new steps, and it keeps seniors connected to others. It involves balance, coordination, listening, rhythm, motion, emotions, and physical touch.

Present day seniors grew up dancing. There were grand, lavish ballrooms, and people in cities took the streetcars to dance the night away. Ballroom dancing was a popular choice for a date. Big Band orchestras under the batons of Tommy Dorsey or Harry James toured the country playing in these wonderful ballrooms.

Today’s seniors are still dancing. Seniors’ dances are everywhere, and there are even exercise classes of “seated” dancing. If an entertainer performs the “old favorites” at a senior center or assisted living community, the audience instantly responds with toe-tapping and probably a rush of memories.

Health-wise, a dance routine for older adults can improve fitness in a low-impact way. More specifically, the physical benefits of dance from Ehow.com include:

  • Improves cardiovascular fitness – Even light dancing will increase the heart rate and give the heart a good workout.
  • Builds muscles – Through dance, seniors work their muscles and help to combat the effects of age.
  • Improves social outlook – By joining a dance class—no matter what type of dance—they can enjoy the company of being with other dancers.
  • Increases balance and control – The improved balance that comes from dancing helps prevent slips and falls.
  • Increases bone mass – Both men and women begin to lose bone mass as they age, leading to more broken bones when they fall.
  • Improves flexibility – A good dance workout will include stretching time which can help senior citizens increase flexibility and reduce muscle aches.

Again, from Brain Fitness For Seniors.com, by improving the social interactivity of seniors, dancing increases social harmony, understanding and tolerance in the community which is important because aging requires people of sometimes diverse backgrounds to live closer together in retirement homes and communities.

Music and rhythm have measurable effects on the brain and are the subject of multiple studies of brain-fitness benefits in both the young and old. Listening to music itself can have clear effects on the brain, stimulating different areas, changing brainwave patterns, and relieving stress.

Some believe that just watching dance stimulates the brain – mental stimulation that may be almost as powerful as performing the activity first hand. Even seniors who are too physically restricted to move freely can still participate and gain brain fitness benefits from social dance groups.

In summary, the lyrics of country music star Lee Ann Womack’s signature song say it all:

“I hope you still feel small when you stand behind the ocean.
I hope whenever one door closes, another opens.
Promise me that you’ll give faith a fighting chance,
and when you get the choice to sit it out or dance…
I Hope You Dance.”

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