East End Seniors Are Aging Creatively At The PAC

Every week for the past month and a half, a group of approximately 30 senior citizens have come together in a special creative class to appreciate something that has often been overlooked: their pasts.

A unique partnership between the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (PAC) and the Southampton Town Senior Services division has created a home for just that type of revery. The two organizations have worked together to make a place where older people can age creatively and are encouraged to reach into their past life experiences to create something meaningful, by channeling it through a variety of outlets—singing, dramatic performance or the arts. Each week the seniors, who come from all over Southampton Town, meet at the stage of the PAC for “Melodies and Memories,” where they sing familiar tunes from the past and share stories from their lives. A team of energetic teaching artists help inspire the group through cheerful, fun activities, like singing old classics together, telling stories dramatically and creating works of art, like collages made up of old photos.

The program is free of charge to participating seniors, thanks to a donation from Emilie Corey, according to Jodi Giambrone, the public relations and artist coordinator for PAC.

Joanna Ferraro-Levy, associate director of the PAC and the director of the arts and education program, is part of the backbone of “Melodies and Memories.” All of her own colorful artifacts spanning from the 1930s to the 1960s are laid out on display atop a long table on the stage, next to where class is in session. Some of the relics include cutlery, bright green pots, framed photos, a photo album with small black and white photos, an old telephone, books from different eras, and a beehive bag from the 1950s.

The historical objects are meant to elicit memories and stories. The items are also there for the class to identify with to feel somewhat at home.

“The idea is really reminiscing,” she said. “Stimulating creativity and then using the arts as sort of an outlet.”

Last Tuesday, 20 seniors attended the morning class at the PAC, which is taught by several “teaching artists.” Those instructors include Patricia Feiler, who ran the musical portion of the program this past week; Julienne Penza, who taught the storytelling and dramatic performance part of the class; and Peter Pece, the group’s pianist.

After singing some songs under Ms. Feiler’s direction, the class broke into two groups: one that focused on dramatic presentation, supervised by Ms. Penza, and another on creating collages, which Ms. Feiler directed.

In a separate room, the seniors in the art class sat with large books from which they could cut images to create collages. Eastport resident Marie Gordon was one of the few to bring her own materials—dozens of old photos of the 77-year-old’s life—which included drawings she created in the fourth grade.

If the mission of the class is to evoke memories, it has worked with Ms. Gordon. While showing off the photos, she launched into telling colorful stories from her past. She recalled one from long ago, when her brother Frank ran away to join the circus at 17, but was turned down because he was not old enough.

Others, like Hampton Bays resident Anne Pavlovsky, who is 67 (and “proud of it,” she said) reported that she was initially afraid of coming to the class. Because she was busy raising a family all her life, she said she never had time to explore her artistic side. But now, it’s a different story.

“I came here very fearful and I was happy I came,” she said. “It’s a great, great thing.”

Over at the stage, Ms. Penza directed the class to do an “emotional check-in” to come up with one word they were feeling at the very moment. She also instructed the class to dramatically present the word, or to “paint the word.” As Ms. Penza went around the room, the students echoed mostly positive words: beautiful, comfortable, satisfied, thrilled and curious were a few mentioned.

Ismini Theologidis, 84, of Manorville, said she felt the class was cathartic. She commended the PAC and the town’s senior center for the partnership.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s really amazing the things this center does.”

The PAC will host a performance on December 9 to showcase the seniors work. The final class is on December 16.