At Arts for the Aging, we have been trying to come up with ways to include more cultures and disciplines in our creative aging work, and also reach more older adults. In January and February of 2025, I will be working with Annetta Dexter Sawyer with hybrid programing. 

Below is the program description: 
Sharing Voices, Creating Connections
Create community through the power of the arts and technology with Arts for the Aging Teaching Artists Annetta Dexter Sawyer and Sloka Iyengar in this unique hybrid workshop. You may choose to join the workshop either in-person or via Zoom. We will explore creative movement, sound, and rhythm by creating percussive patterns with props and your collective voices. Discover how music, languages, and cultures connect and overlap as we create together. No prior experience is required, and all materials will be provided for in-person participants. Participants joining virtually may bring gloves, hats, and scarves to use as props. 

Participants at The Creative Center have been exploring the language of hastas through movement and also through the making of plaster casts. We are using these modalities to reflect our personal connection to the natural world, deepen our understanding of both Bharatanatyam and the symbolic language of hands, while also engaging in a meditative and artistic exploration of nature’s forms and rhythms. 
We started sketching our hands holding various hastas, cast these hastas with plaster, and then decorated these casts. Participants took these casts with them, one decided to put lights within the fingers of the cast and attach it to her wall as a self-sculpture. 
Images: Sketches and plaster casts of hands