ARTIST ROSTER - DANCE

Kairos Dance Theatre

Minneapolis

Kairos Dance Theatre is an intergenerational dance company whose performers span four generations, ranging in age from eight to eighty-seven years old. Kairos has received local and national recognition for their pioneering work in both intergenerational dance and the emerging field of creative aging. At the heart of their work is the desire to expand audience and participants’ ideas of what dance can be, and to offer a new vision of dance that is welcoming of all ages, abilities and life experiences. Kairos’ programming includes performances, classes, residencies, workshops and our groundbreaking “Dancing Heart – Vital Elders Moving in Community” program, through which they offer older adults, families and caregivers an interactive, creative experience that combines opportunities for artistic expression and learning with the health-enhancing benefits of dance and music.

Established in 2001, Kairos Dance Theatre’s “Dancing Heart– Vital Elders Moving in Community” program contributes to elders’ physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being by providing in-depth opportunities for individual artistic development, higher-level physical activity, and community connection through a unique program design of dance, music and storytelling. Kairos also received a MindAlert Award in 2008 from the American Society on Aging (ASA). ASA, in collaboration with MetLife Foundation, gives this award each year to three outstanding programs addressing cognitive fitness and cognitive impairment. Kairos is the winner of the Archstone Foundation’s 2007 Innovation in Excellence Award for its “Dancing Heart Memory Loss Program” at the Wilder Foundation’s Adult Day Health Memory Loss Program in St. Paul.

Dr. Gene Cohen..."I want to recommend Kairos Dance Theatre, Artistic Director, Maria Genné. Their intergenerational performing troupe and their program for elders: “The Dancing Heart” are state-of-the-art programs, from a state-of-the-art intergenerational dance group. Maria Genné is extremely talented with true depth and breadth of experience in the area of dance with older persons and intergenerational groups."