Discounting
gray-haired folks doesn’t cut it, especially when we’re talking about talent. The
recent first Annual Seniors Have Talent variety show in Santa Barbara
demonstrated that fact. This inaugural event was sponsored by Santa Barbara’s
Center for Successful Aging.
On stage at the
gorgeous, historic Marjorie Luke Theatre, scores of mature adults danced, sang,
and played musical instruments with the enthusiasm of contestants on America’s
Got Talent. With the professional air and confidence of seasoned entertainers,
they took the stage, delighting the sold-out audience and sending us down
Memory Lane. Toes tapped, heads bobbed, and smiles spread wide as the 800 of us
took it all in.
Sparkly costumes
and precision moves hallmarked the performances of Santa Barbara Treble Clef
Chorus, a Sweet Adelines choir; Girls’ Night Out, a reincarnation of the famed
Andrews Sisters; and the fast-stepping women of Santa Barbara Silver Follies. The
dozen-and-a-half women in the troupe, Hula Anyone, transported us across the
sea to the islands with their soft, barefoot tread and swaying bodies.
A woman in her
90s flawlessly played “Chopin Nocturne in C Sharp Minor.” An 80-something woman
had suffered a stroke several years before, but her singing voice was the first
of her skills to return during recovery. She belted out “Climb Every Mountain”
while holding the microphone with one hand and the other on her walker.
 |
| Anke, Marie, Dennis, Annis and Karen at Intermission |
Though talented
and dedicated, like Marie, most of these seniors were not life-long
professional performers. For example, one woman singing a Hawaiian number accompanied
herself on the ukulele. She’d begun ukulele lessons five years earlier, at age
75.
This uplifting
show, with its huge variety of quality acts, demonstrated that even as we
approach a “certain age,” seniors have the need and ability to share their
artistic gifts.
But, even more
profound, it struck me that while watching strangers perform on a stage I’d felt
a sense of pride. I’d seen a reflection of myself -- an older adult whose thirst
for adventure and desire to remain active trumps a few aches and pains. Witnessing
their passion reaffirms my keenness to be an active participant in the rest of
my life.
~
xoA ~
"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage
of opportunity and strength."
Betty Friedan (1921-2006)
