NSA CREATIVE AGING PROGRAM

MUSIC

Golden Karaoke Class

Sing your way through time. This class will provide students with the opportunity to perform their favorite songs. Participants can choose from Karaoke on Demand’s vast repertoire of music. Non singers can request to have their favorite songs performed by our Karaoke Hostess, and play along with percussive instruments. This class provides our golden community a fun way to socialize and enjoy the health benefits of singing. Activities will include group discussions around the songs and moments to share memories. The workshop series will culminate with a public sharing of songs and memories.

Drum and Singing Circle

West African Dance technique at the beginning level for older adults with or without mobility issues. Movement class with focus on rhythm, songs, and culture as well as dance choreographies traditionally performed for rites of passage, courtship, and other cultural occasions. Class emphasizes community building and individual potential. 

DANCE

Ballroom Dance

This workshop provides the student who simply enjoys dance, the opportunity to develop and refine their dance skills. Anyone can learn how to ballroom dance. Lessons include waltz, tango, salsa and many others, according to the participants' level. Latin and world rhythms make it a fun dance party! Warming up the body through stretching exercises is emphasized, followed by the teaching of sequential movements that develop into a routine. Great for the mind and body, but also just fun!

Healing Dance

Music and dance with others help overcome emotional struggles and boost self-esteem and self-confidence. Healing Dance focuses on connecting with other human beings in a safe space under the guidance of a facilitator, in a class that involves meditation, breathing, coordination, and movement with objects, leading to more joy in participant’s lives. Sessions promote physical, cognitive, social, emotional, spiritual, and creative processes through self-expressive and improvisational movements.

Health and Wellness

Fun Fitness

Having an exercise routine and getting into shape can be difficult on your own, especially in old age. These sessions consist of a kinder, gentler aerobic low-intensity, low-impact aerobic workout appropriate for older adults. It offers a variety of exercises designed to increase muscular strength, range of movement, and activities for daily living. Everything in a fun and relaxed environment.

Theatre

Creative Expression through Drama

The NSA’s Senior Theater Program (STP) provides a vital sense of commitment and joy in the lives of mature adults and demonstrates the possibilities for expanded horizons late in life.

The Newark School of the Arts brings in a professional theater teaching artist to lead the group in exploring physical and vocal expression through various settings and characters.  The Teaching Artist helps the participants choose or write scenes, songs and develop monologues that offer a variety of roles well suited for older performers. The material we propose presents a positive image of the aging experience and provides an opportunity for seniors to enhance their mental acuity, be physically active and form new and lasting bonds with ensemble members. The Teaching Artist will guide the ensemble members toward a culminating performance goal.

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

Photographing the Beauty Around Me

A 10-week session designed to teach older adults basic aim-and-shoot skills to document their experiences through digital photography. Weekly photography assignments will be shared and discussed. Topics will include camera operation and photo composition. By the end of this class, students will have an appreciation for what makes a great photograph. No previous photography skills are required. 

Visual Arts

Landscape Painting

Beginning students will perform basic exercises with watercolor and oils to enhance their painting skills, including making shapes, contour lines and shading forms within a composition. Students will create landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes and natural environments, combining the skills and exercises learned during the class. In the final weeks of the series, participants combine these skills to create their own work of art.

Hand Building Pottery Class

This course, designed for adults of all levels, introduces pottery as an art form. It explores the basics of forming and shaping clay and covers some basics handbuilding and pinch pottery techniques. Participants will learn to manipulate clay, creating functional, unique and personal pieces such as vowels, tiles, plates, platters and more. Students will be able to explore their creativity, building forms, making handles, adding texture and decoratives, and mores.