A critical narrative on late-life creativity and dementia: Integrating citizenship, embodiment and relationality

Mrs. Rosen [the pianist] started playing the piano once all of the residents were settled. Edna was singing along very loudly, holding onto a rolled up magazine and using it to hit the arm of her chair to the beat of the music. Florence was singing along – not the words but she was perfectly in tune singing ‘La, la, la’. Anna was there and she was tapping her fingers on her walker. Frances was tapping her hands in unison on her lap, swaying from one side of the chair to the other. She raised her chin and burrowed her eyebrows as she struggled to reach the high notes. Molly rested her elbows on the arms of her wheelchair and orchestrated the music with an imaginary baton. Dody was sitting forward in her seat, her knees were swaying in unison and she was clapping her hands to the music. Jacob closed his eyes and tilted his head from side to side as he listened to the music. Sam clapped his hands and tapped his feet on the pedals of his wheelchair. Suddenly Edna got up and asked Florence, who was seated next to her, to dance. Florence squinted her face and said ‘Nah’. Edna then asked Ethel who was seated just next to Florence and she too said ‘No’. With her legs already moving to the music Edna waved her hands in the air as she shuffled from side to side without a partner. A male health care practitioner quickly joined her on the dance floor. Their hands clasped and Edna immediately released her right hand and twirled around under his arm, returning to the position of facing him. They held hands and moved in towards each other (almost touching chests), pushing their arms out to the side, and then pulling away from each other, still holding hands and allowing their arms to stretch out in front of them. Edna also swung her hips from side to side, accentuating the movement by turning her right toe inward as she swung her right hip and then the same with her left side. They made eye contact with each other and they smiled and laughed as they danced.