Churton Leigh movement for activating alertness and connection

Teaching rhythm songs and celebrating new song writing talent Desiree Dawson.

I am so thrilled to spend time with the residents of Churtonleigh Rest Home in Churton Park Wellington.

I have been running a series of singing over the last couple of years and has been a driver of my creativity to increase mobility and build community connections in the lounge space.

Residents live in rooms alongside each other but do not have much communication with each other often small clicks can be formed.

Music is universal and accessible to everybody, no matter how you are when I start the class. It is often the greatest joy to see the transformation of someone from one state of being to another in the duration of our session.

I utilise a number of methods to do this but my favourites a combination of live music and interactive instruments including boomwhackers shakers and bells play an accompaniment by me on guitar or ukulele.

Increasing physical interaction, play and curiosity, engaging left and right brain hemispheres with boomwhackers.

I also provide digital words on the lounge television so that people can follow along with lyrical content if they would like to see a visual representation of the work that we are singing.

Also, I use digital audio to support the work and it's how to activate memory experiences so we can have a jolly good time. Sometimes I think you can be a conduit to a shared experience you can have in the collective if you bring the right tools and have the grace to make it work.

I have had some right proper bangers in my time. It is best not to make an assumption about what someone likes musically and better to ask. We do this with song requests. I have been building a most excellent Spotify list of songs from our participants along with a few choices from me.