How the arts assist with healthy ageing

As the population ages, arts programs helping people face the challenges of growing older are springing to life.

Every Friday, former dancer Paris Wages connects people with the joy of movement through her Dance for Parkinson’s (Dance for PD) class at the YMCA in Melbourne’s Hawthorn.

For one of her regular attendees, who is quite frail, the classes reignite his passion for ballroom dancing.

‘You put on Glenn Miller and he switches on like a light bulb and that beautiful muscle memory just switches back on,’ she said.

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Christine Long is a freelance journalist based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW. She has contributed to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Travel + Leisure Australia, Galah magazine, and Australian Educator magazine.