Happy New Year!

It is already Jan. 6th. Time goes so fast.

My husband and I went to Hawaii Kai Retirement Center to host a monthly dance. It's strictly volunteer, and I love it!

This is the first event of 2019. We hold it on the first Sunday of every month. This month was New Year's Party!

From 6:00 pm, retirement center residents gathered at "The Ice Cream Parlor" in the Center next to the dining room in Phase Two. We danced to Glen Miller's music for 20 minutes, then we did a Tango performance, complete with competition ballgown and tuxedo. After that, everyone danced, even people in wheel chairs (!) for an hour. Ballroom and Latin!

Some people just watched and feasted on the dancing, seeing and listening to dance music from the CD player. Others moved their body with the music. Some got up and danced! 

We were so pleased to have the President (no, not Mr. Trump!) of International Ballroom Dance Inc. there, as well as several board members, a couple of IBDI dance instructors (who did an impromptu demonstration, thank you!), and some community dancers as well. 

I asked one fellow, if he'd like to dance with me. He said "Yes!" and, though he said he couldn't dance. Instead, I told him to just step with what he hears in the music. While I was doing this, my dance partner and husband, Dan, was "wheel chair dancing" with several other people. We had as wonderful a time as everything there. 

I am a Somatic Therapist and this was a real life experience with somatic therapy. It wasn't about talking, it was about moving one's body in rhythm to the music. 


By the end of the dance, everyone was chatting, and smiling and looking forward to next month's February Sweetheart Dance. Now that's what I call real somatic therapy.