60th Anniversary of the Polio Vaccine

Posted on April 23, 2015 by EngAGE
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HEALTHThis month we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk that protected children from polio. Many of us remember the days when the disease terrorized families everywhere. In the NPR link below, the photo of rows of iron lungs in a polio ward is disturbing evidence of the effects it had. From NPR:

Tens of thousands of Americans — in the first half of the 20th century — were stricken by poliomyelitis. Polio, as it’s known, is a disease that attacks the central nervous system and often leaves its victims partially or fully paralyzed.

The hallmarks of the Polio Era were children on crutches and in iron lungs, shuttered swimming pools, theaters warning moviegoers to not sit too close to one another.

. . . The introduction of [the Salk] vaccine in 1955 was one of the biggest medical advances in American history.

Learn more here at NPR, and click here to learn about the resurgence in polio vaccine use in the developing world.

 

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Navajo Hoop Dancer and Healer Jones Benally

Posted on April 22, 2015 by EngAGE

From IndianCountryTodayMedia.com:

Age is only a concept to Dine hoop dancer Jones Benally, born in an octagonal home on the Navajo reservation in the dirt floor/no water/no electricity days before birth certificates, and still going strong today.

Two years ago, when he became the recipient of the first-ever “Hoop Dance Legacy Award” from Heard Museum, the press release noted that Benally was in his 90s and had been a hoop dancer for more than 75 years, “traveling the world as a cultural ambassador sharing culture and song.” Not much has changed.

Read more here and see some beautiful photos. Watch a video in which he is singing and performing with family members as part of the group Sihasin or “Hope,” in the Navajo language.

Sihasin – “Take a Stand” on Vimeo from Sihasin on Vimeo.

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Earth Day: Gray is Green

Posted on April 21, 2015 by EngAGE

Close up image of human hands holding sproutIf you’d like to celebrate Earth Day on April 22nd, check out Gray is Green (the Senior Conservation Corps),  the leading environmental education, advocacy, and action organization for older adults. Gray Is Green serves as a clearinghouse for older adults interested in greening their lives, learning about sustainability, advocating for sound climate change policy, and serving as resources for younger people involved in sustainability.

 

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What Happened to the Abandoned Children of Soldiers Who Served in Viet Nam?

Posted on April 20, 2015 by EngAGE

FYI

From the Washington Post:

When the last U.S. military personnel fled Saigon on April 29 and 30, 1975, they left behind a country scarred by war, a people uncertain about their future and thousands of their own children. These children — some half-black, some half-white —… are approaching middle age with stories as complicated as the two countries that gave them life. Growing up with the face of the enemy, they were spat on, ridiculed, beaten. They were abandoned, given away to relatives or sold as cheap labor. The families that kept them often had to hide them or shear off their telltale blond or curly locks. Some were sent to reeducation or work camps, or ended up homeless and living on the streets…

Now, an Amerasian group has launched a last-chance effort to reunite fathers and children with a new DNA database on a family heritage Web site…

But family secrets are buried like land mines.

Read more here.

 

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EngAGE in Creativity on Saturday, April 25th

Posted on April 19, 2015 by EngAGE

Please plan on joining us for our annual celebration of creativity at Burbank Senior Artists Colony. We’ll have gourmet food; live entertainment from Living Legend of Jazz Clarence Johnston and his band, plus the 3B Blues Band; face-painting for the kids and a caricature artist for the adults; a gourmet wine bar and tasty appetizers; and lots of fun! Free parking, free admission, and everyone is welcome! Add it to your calendar now!

E-in-C 04.25.2015

 

 

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Worth Repeating: Photo Study of The Oldest Things in the World

Posted on April 18, 2015 by EngAGE

“Worth Repeating” is a weekly feature on the EngAGE Blog that will bring you previous posts that we think are still timely, interesting, or just plain fun! From 4/25/14:

WORTH-REPEATING

“In 2004, Brooklyn-based artist Rachel Sussman embarked on the photographic quest of a lifetime: to document the oldest living things in the world. Now, a decade later, Sussman is still going strong, her journey having taken her to some of the harshest and most remote landscapes, from the Mojave Desert to Antarctica to the Australian Outback. Driven by relentless curiosity underscored by a sense of environmentalism, the artist conducts research, works with biologists, and travels the world to photograph the oldest continuously living organisms in the world, creating a fascinating visual collection that spans disciplines, continents, and millennia.” Read more and see great photos here.

 

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Experience Talks Online – Now Posted: Anna Halprin

Posted on April 17, 2015 by EngAGE

Experience Talks Online Logo

Join us for Experience Talks Online, exclusive podcast interviews posted on our website. Carrying on the same tradition as our KPFK-FM/Pacifica Network syndicated radio show, the podcasts feature talented, creative people with experience worth talking about. Find our podcasts on the Listen Page of our website. They’ll post on an intermittent basis, so read this blog for updates about new podcasts as well as new Experience Talks radio shows. You can also like Experience Talks on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get the latest news. Experience Talks and Experience Talks Online are produced by EngAGE, Inc.

PODCASTExperience Talks is pre-empted through the end of May, but we’ll have occasional podcasts for you during this hiatus. Just click the button to go to our Listen Page to hear this one!

 

 

Now Posted!

Anna Halprin

with host Alica Sedwick

“Age is like enlightenment at gunpoint.” ~ Anna Halprin

Anna Halprin - 2Anna Halprin’s diverse career has spanned the field of dance since the late 1930s, creating revolutionary directions for the art form and inspiring fellow choreographers to take modern dance to new dimensions. James Roose – Evans author of “Experimental Theatre” called Anna one of the most important theatre artists of the 20th century.

Anna founded the groundbreaking San Francisco Dancer’s Workshop in 1955 and the Tamalpa Institute in 1978 with her daughter Daria Halprin. Over the years, her famous outdoor deck has been an explorative haven for numerous dancers and choreographers, including Merce Cunningham, Eiko and Koma, and Min Tanaka; composers such as John Cage, Luciano Berio, Terry Riley, LeMonte Young, and Morton Subotnick; visual artists such as Robert Morris and Robert Whiteman; poets such as Richard Brautigan, James Broughton, and Michael McClure; and countless others.

Halprin is an early pioneer in the expressive arts healing movement. She has led countless collaborative dance programs with terminally ill patients, long committed to a belief in the connection between movement and the healing power of dance. Halprin has also investigated numerous social issues through dance and through theatrical innovations.

Halprin has created 150 full-length dance theater works, which are extensively documented in photographs, books, and on film. She is the author of three books and has released numerous videotapes about her work. She has received numerous honors from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Dance Guild, and many others, including a lifetime achievement in choreography from the American Dance Festival.

Halprin continues to make revolutionary work exploring the beauty of the aging body and its relationship to nature. Recent works include the award winning video, “Returning Home.”

At the age of 94, she performs, travels and teaches with fervor.

For more information: www.annahalprin.org

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