Odd combo a sellout hit

Combining stories of the elderly with dance may seem like an odd combination but Kolbe Catholic College students have pulled it off.Their new sellout production Profectus tells the story of three 90 year old’s lives from childhood to the present highlighting moments of love, rebellion, war, loss and celebration.

Dance teacher Sally Shanassy said she wanted to create a dance which told a story and kept the audience involved.

“It is the journey of three elderly people from Shoalwater Aged Care Home, Pat Davis, Emily Bench and Rod Bartholomew,” she said.

“We have recorded their stories through audio and we are going to put them in-between the dances and the dancers play out their stories.

Mrs Shanassy said students had visited the aged care home for the past semester on Sunday mornings to gain an understanding of the seniors’ life journeys.

“My hope is that the dance students take away that older people aren’t what they think they are — they are gems full of stories to tell,” she said.

Dance captain Jack Ryan, 17, said up to 170 students had been rehearsing for the production.

“It is coming along really well and now we are just finalising all the little pieces,” he said.

“We wanted to do something really different to what we have done, not just dance after dance, but tell a story and get a message across to our audience that they can take home and think about — something meaningful.”

Jack said talking with the seniors was an “eye opening” experience.

“At first we were all really nervous and we didn’t know what was going to happen but once they got comfortable with us everything just kept flowing through and we got everything we wanted out of it and more,” he said. “I hope everyone enjoys the dances and learns something.”

The production will be held at the school tomorrow and Friday night.