The two-day dancethon event brought together both seniors and youths.

 

Over 3,000 seniors participated in the two-day “Ngee Ann City – PA Dancethon 2016” held in the heart of Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City, Civic Plaza on the weekends in May 2016. Into its sixth-year, the dance event was jointly organised by the People’s Association (PA) Active Ageing Council and Ngee Ann City, as part of the PA Wellness Programme to promote active ageing and healthy living among residents through the vibrancy of dance.

Riding on the current interest in Korean pop and culture in the community, one of the highlights for this year’s Dancethon was a special K-PopX Fitness segment (which combines cardio and body toning exercises) led by the founder Singaporean Maddy Lim and it attracted many new participants to the event. Grassroots adviser to Nee Soon GRC, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, also joined the dance enthusiasts in grooving to the music during the K-PopX Fitness segment.

He shared, “Dance is a good way for seniors to socialise and keep physically active. I am happy to note that there is a new group of young-seniors who love K-PopX fitness joining the Dancethon this year.  It is important that seniors adopt a healthy and active lifestyle from a younger age, so that it becomes a natural progression for one to continue to stay active and connected in the community even after retirement.”

 

Intergenerational bonding

Dancethon 2016 also encouraged intergenerational bonding – getting seniors and youths to team up in the intergenerational freestyle dance competition. Through the regular dance practices, the seniors and youths got to know one another better while having fun together. The seniors got to learn new fancy dance steps from the younger team members, while the young were inspired by the passion and  perseverance of their senior team members.  The winner of the dance competition this year was Team “2050” representing the Whampoa Community Club. The team came up with the unique group name because half the team members were in their 20s, while the rest were active agers in their 50s! But the truth was, no one could tell them apart!

One of the team members, Niki Yeo, 18, participated in the dance competition with her two sisters as well as her mother and two maternal aunts. She shared, “This experience had certainly brought my sisters and I closer to our mom and maternal aunts. We have much more in common than I would have thought. Through participating in this competition, we have created happy memories for all of us!”

Added’s her mother, Tng Lay Eng, 53, “Honestly, the quality time spent with my children and sisters is more important than winning this competition. I thank the organisers for this platform for my family members to keep active through dancing and bonding at the same time. The champion trophy was really a bonus!”

Lay Eng’s sisters, Tng Lay Kian, 54 and Tng Lay Khim, 51, said, “We had so much fun learning and dancing with the young ones! Age is just a number, we can still dance like the youth! It was a good bonding session with my nieces in the same team as we practised weekly for this competition.”

 

 

 

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