“Still Dreaming” Documentary Test Screening at NoHo SAC – Public Invited!

Still Dreaming

See the “Still Dreaming” Documentary Test Screening: Monday, July 29th, 7:00 p.m. Reserve your free tickets by calling the NoHo Senior Arts Colony at 866-255-1124.

In addition to the screening, the evening will feature a talk-back with director Hank Rogerson, the audience, and EngAGE Founder and Executive Director Tim Carpenter, which will be recorded for the Experience Talks radio show. 

NoHo SAC has a beautiful professional, 78-seat theatre which we expect to be filled to capacity for this exciting event. Click here to learn more about the film. You can also find more information on Facebook at www.facebook.com/shakespearemovie.

We’re delighted that the NoHo Senior Arts Colony was chosen by filmmakers Jilann Spitzmiller and Hank Rogerson of Philomath Films as the venue for the public’s first look at the team’s new documentary film, entitled “Still Dreaming.” The documentary follows a group of entertainment retirees as they cast, rehearse and perform a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Set at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, this troupe has decided to take a huge leap of faith into a world that was once familiar, but is now so seemingly treacherous. Stretching their physical, emotional and mental limits, the elders take the six week journey together to mount a production.

The Lillian Booth Actors Home hires two young up and coming Shakespeare directors from NYC’s Fiasco Theatre to direct the play, Ben Steinfeld and Noah Brody. Ben and Noah’s collaboration with the elders is an interesting study of the challenges and rewards of undertaking a creative endeavor with an older population.

“Still Dreaming” is a candid, open, and life-affirming film that will inspire viewers to keep chasing their dreams and pursuing their ambitions, regardless of age.

Producer/Director Jilann Spitzmiller most recently won a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her work in the POV PBS documentary, CRITICAL CONDITION, which she co-produced and co-directed. She produced the award-winning SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS and co-directed, produced and edited HOMELAND which aired on National PBS in 2000.

Producer/Director Hank Rogerson is a Producer, Director, Writer, actor and teacher who works both in documentary and fiction film. Hank directed SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS, which picked up 11 awards on the festival circuit, was broadcast world-wide and had a theatrical run of over 25 U.S. cities. Hank also co-produced, directed and edited HOMELAND, an award-winning documentary about four families on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, as well as CIRCLE OF STORIES, a cutting edge multi-media project that brings to life the vibrant art of Native American storytelling at pbs.org.

 

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What Is Nostalgia Good For? Quite a Lot.

HEALTH“Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to literally feel warmer.” Read more here about why feeling nostalgic can be good for you.

 

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Aging in Place: Simple Home Modifications Can Help

 

Home-Sweet-HomeSometimes remaining in a well-loved home is important to ensure a senior’s comfortable later years. Home renovations can make that possible and may be more cost effective than a move to an assisted living facility. Two articles offer helpful suggestions: “Aging in Place: Converting a Family Home into Senior Friendly Living Space” and “Aging America: Home repair for health? Simple fix-ups may keep low-income seniors independent.”

Are you considering this option for yourself or family members? You can share your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

 

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Jerrie Thill: Drummer Extraordinaire

On this blog, we don’t usually post about people who’ve passed on, but this video of 91-year-old drummer Jerrie Thill (1917 – 2010) was irresistible.

“Thill began playing professionally at 18, working as a drummer, singer and bandleader in Chicago. She came into her own during the post-Prohibition era, playing in “juke joints” . . . . From 1935 to 1938 she was the leader of an eight-piece, all-girl touring swing band, and in 1945 she moved to L.A. to become the in-house drummer at Hollywood’s Flamingo night club. In 1974 she joined Peggy Gilbert’s Dixie Belles and toured with the group for two decades. Over the years she’s performed on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ and made guest appearances on shows like ‘The Golden Girls,’ and ‘Married With Children.'” At 91, she still had a regular monthly gig at the El Cid in Silver Lake (a neighborhood in L.A.).

When she connected with songwriter Allee Willis, who wrote the theme to “Friends,” the Pointer Sisters’ “Neutron Dance,” and “The Color Purple” musical, among other hits, Allee knew she had to make a video. “The tempo of the recording is timed to the little bursts of oxygen that come out of [Jerrie’s oxygen tank],” Willis says. “I think it might be the first time that oxygen has been used as percussion.” Read more here and visit Jerri’s website here. (E-mail subscribers: click the post title to go to the blog and see the video.)

[UPDATE: By coincidence, last week as we were preparing this post, we discovered a video of a “drumming grandma” in La Crosse, WI, which was going viral. We posted it on Facebook, but want to add the updated version here for blog subscribers to enjoy. Turns out she’s not a grandma and she’s been a professional drummer!]

 

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Seniors Get by with a Little Help from Their Friends

 

Home-Sweet-HomeMany Boomers are familiar with the communal lifestyle, having come of age during a time when it was popular. In the Boston area today you can find several versions of supportive living:

1. Camelot CoHousing “is an enclave of 34 compact homes with welcoming front porches that sit clustered together in this rural town, about a half-hour drive northeast of Worcester. . . . The neighborhood of about 80 people, ranging in age from 80 to 8 months, is small enough that everyone knows everyone else, yet large enough to ensure privacy.”

2. In Cambridge, “Joanne Tuller, a 58-year-old community health center administrator, has lived with other people — other people who aren’t relatives — for her entire adult life. She loved college dorm life, so after she graduated, Tuller moved to a co-op in Cambridge with seven housemates. This is great, she recalls thinking early on. This is for me. More than three decades later, Tuller owns a big Victorian in Dorchester with her partner and shares it with five other adult men and women — plus one newborn. The residents buy their food together, split the cooking and other chores, and each pays about $525 a month.”

3. Aging in place is “‘the biggest trend we will see in the next 20 years,’ says William Frey, a demographer and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.Paul Morse, the 59-year-old owner of Morse Constructions in Somerville, is a contractor helping older people stay safely at home. He is among the state’s 82 Certified Aging-in-Place Specialists (CAPS), a designation earned through the National Association of Home Builders. Since 2008, the number of CAPS has doubled to 5,000 nationwide.”

4. The Green House model for nursing homes was created a little over a decade ago by geriatrician Bill Thomas. He conceived of “a new kind of residential facility that would feel like a home, encourage social engagement, and offer the medical care of a nursing home — and it would aim to do all of those things while remaining within reach of those on Medicaid and Medicare. Thomas dubbed his concept the Green House model — not for ecological reasons, but because they would be devoted to the idea that the old can continue to grow. There are 150 or so Green House projects in 24 states; 150 more are in development.”

Read more about these housing options here in an article by Sally Abrahms in the Boston Globe.

 

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Worth Repeating: Multi-generational Housing Is Popular Again

WORTH-REPEATING“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 7/13/12:

From Leading Age: “Multigenerational housing is back and it’s gaining popularity, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Living spaces that house older adults, their children or grandchildren landed on the NAHB’s 2012 list of the hottest design trends for new homes.  This isn’t the first time that multigenerational housing has been a popular choice among Americans. By the end of the Great Depression, about 25% of the U.S. population lived in multigenerational households, according to Senior Housing News.” Click here to read more.

 

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Sensors Help Monitor Senior Health and Safety at Home

Inner Life Of NumbersThere are many ways that technology can help seniors living alone (and their families) feel more comfortable about their health and safety. The familiar emergency call buttons are just the beginning.

“Already, some companies are offering monitoring packages that place motion  sensors on the front door, a favourite chair, even the refrigerator, and then  send an alert to a family member if there’s too little activity over a certain  period of time. Other gadgets can make pill bottles buzz when it’s time for a  dose and text a caregiver if it’s not taken, or promise to switch off a stove  burner that’s left on too long.

“Researchers at the University of Missouri aim to go further: Their  experiments show that certain automatic monitoring can spot changes — such as  restlessness in bed or a drop in daytime activity — that occur 10 days to two  weeks before a fall or a trip to the doctor or hospital.”

Read more here.

 

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