RDT Brings Movement & Music For Seniors To South Salt Lake

Repertory Dance Theatre, the nation's premiere modern dance repertory company, is excited to announce a new project in South Salt Lake. In conjunction with the South Salt Lake Arts Council, RDT is holding free movement & music classes for seniors at the Columbus Center (2530 South 400 East).

This class, held every Tuesday (11:00 am-12:00 pm) from February-May at the Columbus Center, is designed for older adults looking for new ways of expressing themselves. Students will explore art and creativity through movement and music with dancer Nicholas Cendese and music educator Barbara Lewis.

Cendese, 37 years old, is an Artistic Associate for RDT who danced with the Company for eleven years before moving into an administrative role. He has danced since the age of 3 and taught students aged 3-93. Lewis, 84 years old, taught music and music appreciation in the public school system for many years.

Together, the pair will work with seniors who love to move at any level to discover new ways of expressing themselves, their ideas, and emotions through the energy of their body in motion. Movement includes using a chair for support, seated or standing as well as moving around the room.

RDT has held adult community dance classes in Salt Lake City since 1998 through its Dance Center on Broadway and has recently expanded its offerings to seniors in both South Jordan and now South Salt Lake. While the post WWII population ages, what's referred to as "creative aging" programming is critical to the mental and physical health of seniors, and RDT is at the forefront of using dance and music to enrich, heal and offer social outlets for the senior crowd, as well as therapeutic dance such as its Grey Matters class for those with Parkinson's.

RDT's commitment to creative aging began two years ago with a grant from EngAGE Utah, a nonprofit that advocates and facilitates for interactive arts experiences with seniors. Since then, RDT has held ongoing classes at Sagewood Senior Living at Daybreak, as well as a special program in Sandy. Nick Cendese says "the Columbus Center class is a wonderful addition to our senior programming and Barbara and I have loved working in this growing community of South Salt Lake."

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