Community Arts

Ressources Ethnoculturelles Contre l’Abus envers les Aîné(e)s, Respecting Elders Communities against Abuse (RECAA). When I joined, they were a group of 10-15 people from many different ethnic communities, with ages ranging from the late 20s to the early 90s, with an average age of 75.

 

They had been working together for ten years and had created a lively and challenging group of Theatre Forums plays. Initially I worked with them on the Forums they had already created, each one dealing effectively with the issues elders experience. Later we worked with high school students to create forums about the misunderstandings between old and young.

 

Finally, with a Canada Council community arts grant, I, in conjunction with other artists, worked with the group to devise a vaudeville event called We Are Old! We Are Wonderful! The final productionwhich I directed involved scenes, videos, puppets, dance, and songs about the joys and trials of getting old, challenging age stereotypes, and acknowledging its realities, reimagining typical negative narratives of aging and old age though the content of the piece and by the very performance by these passionate seniors. We performed it once to a large and enthusiastic audience of all ages, some of whom were in tears by the end.