Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Christopher Brown is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist. He provides original and interpretive bass music with Arts for the Aging workshops. He is established in Washington, D.C. as a leading performer, session player, producer and educator, at home and internationally. Originally from the UK, he has built his 20-year-plus career on musicality, professionalism, and a commitment to authenticity embracing rock/pop, jazz, gospel, electronic and world music and more. His credits include renowned artists like Ron Holloway, John Mayer, Rev. Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, and Brian Blade, among countless others. As session bassist or producer his record of over 40 albums includes Daniel Lanois’ Black Dub, Moonshine Society and many more. Constantly in demand and forging new musical connections, he is equally dedicated to long-term projects including Pigeon Kings, Moonshine Society, Bobby Thompson, D.C. Improviser’s Collective and District Nomad. Outside of gigs and session work, he is a Musical Director, TV/film/video-game composer, and internationally renowned educator and music technologist, consulting or creating for Levine Music, the Field School, Bach 2 Rock (US) and leading European school the Academy of Contemporary Music (UK).

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Peter Joshua Burroughs is a versatile singing actor who has performed in many supporting roles with the Washington National Opera, as well as appearances in Weil recital hall in New York City and Principal roles with other regional opera companies. Internationally he has performed with Studio Lirico in Cortona Italy, at London’s Clore Studio of Covent Garden and Teatro Milanes in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. Dr. Burroughs has worked extensively with young and old alike as an engaging teaching artist with Arts for The Aging, Washington National Opera, Wolf Trap Foundation, Spanish Dance Society, and Washington Concert Opera. He is a founding member of ROMEZ3arts (Reach Out through Music, its E Z) a company dedicated to inter-cultural sharing and community building through arts. Equally at home on the stage and in the classroom, Peter makes opera accessible to all. His series of programs titled coOPERAtion have inspired senior day care centers and classrooms in the DC Metropolitan area for more than 20 years. His original residency plans for the Washington National Opera (WNO) DCPS partnership as Teaching Artist in both “Music, Words Opera Curriculum” and “Kids Create Opera” have been extremely successful.  He toured Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. as well as North and South Carolina with children’s interactive opera programming and has also endeavored to take programming to his home state of Vermont. Peter holds a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Music Education from Ithaca College, Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Maryland College Park’s Maryland Opera Studio.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Paula Cleggett is an award-winning painter and her works are frequently shown in local galleries. Paula retired from rewarding careers in government and academia, with senior positions centered on communications and public engagement. She organized a long-running forum that explored arts policy at the national level, and she has been deeply engaged in programs using arts to improve healthcare. For over a decade, she has painted almost daily. She shares her enthusiasm for art through teaching, writing, and demonstrations in the Washington, DC area. Born in Chicago, Paula attended the Art Institute of Chicago while in high school; she went on to earn a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin at Platteville; she received an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Rene Davila provides workshops spotlighting the history, movement, and music of Argentine Tango. Ever since he moved to the Washington D.C. area, he has been devoted to the promotion of Argentine Tango. Originally from Bolivia and with no dance background, Rene switched careers more than 20 years ago to follow his passion. He moved to Buenos Aires to learn with worldwide, renowned tango instructors, musicians, historians, and poets of the tango culture. His programs introduce and explain to participants that tango is not only a social dance, but also the complex clash of cultures that generated it, its history, its musicians, its language, and culture. Rene is an artist, a tango instructor, and an expert on tango culture. He organizes a variety of diverse and exciting tango social dances, events, and concerts in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area as Artistic Director of Tango Brillante D.C., an Arts for the Aging Cultural Arts Partner.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Annetta Dexter-Sawyer is a versatile artist who leads workshops in creative movement, theater, and the visual arts. In addition, Annetta teaches dance at Trinity Washington University where she is on the Fine Arts Department faculty. She is a teaching artist at Folger Library Secondary Shakespeare Festival, a Montgomery County Arts Council Teaching Artist in schools, a poet-in-residence with the Arlington Humanities Project, the Assistant Director/Teaching Artist with ArtStream (an inclusive theater organization), and she presents classes in Movement Improvisation Theater at Glen Echo Arts Park. She is an avid contributor to the Creative Aging and Arts in Health movement.

For more than twenty years Annetta has taught and choreographed for all ages and special populations. Her program structure utilizes movement, exercises, dance and guided imagery for healing and well-being. Annetta would like for “those taking the class to feel better about themselves and walk away rejuvenated and refreshed!”. She has a B.A. in English and minor in communications from Rutgers University; a New Jersey State Teacher’s Certification; and an M.A. in performing arts-dance from American University.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Fairouz Foty is a trained opera singer who has studied with Carlos Cesar Rodriguez for more than ten years and debuted with Carol Opera Company as Micaela in ‘Carmen.’ In addition, she performed with Westminster Choir College Opera as Helena from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Lauretta from ‘Gianni Schicchi.’ In 2014 she completed the Bel Canto Le Chiavi Program with University of Houston and the Carol Yahr Summer Opera Scenes Workshop where she sung Mimi from Act III of ‘La Boheme.’ She is currently the co-director of music of Foty Fusion Productions and performs with Romez3Arts. Fairouz’s musical foundation began through Arabic music where her father, a virtuosic oud and Arabic singer, taught her and her four siblings how to play and sing in Arabic. She is in the process of using her western opera skills to create a unique genre of Arabic opera that focuses on the works of early 20th century Arabic composers and musicians. Fairouz Foty received her bachelor degree in music and Africana studies from Lafayette College in 2011 and then continued her studies at Westminster Choir College, where she earned a masters of music in vocal performance and pedagogy with a performance emphasis.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Adam Gonzalez is the Music Director of Quicksilver, Arts for the Aging’s resident senior improv dance group. He is a cellist and has taught at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. and Montgomery College, Maryland, and was director of instrumental music at the Waldorf School in Baltimore. Since 2007, Mr. Gonzalez has taught classes in music history, music theory, composition, and private cello lessons, at Frederick Community College. He also maintains an active music studio at his home where he teaches students ages 8 to 98, and welcomes students of all levels, beginner to advanced. Adam started his professional career in Mexico City, where he played with the Mexico City Philharmonic. While in the orchestra, he toured throughout the country, as well as parts of Central and South America. He then moved to New Mexico, where he organized the Helios String Quartet, and the Placitas Artists series (now in its 33rd season) and toured throughout the southwest. Adam has performed in a wide variety of styles as a freelance cellist in the Washington D.C. Metro area for over 20 years. His commercial recording work has included music for the History Channel and National Geographic. He is a graduate of Wheaton College and has an M.A. in cello performance from Boston University.

Kathy Hankins (she/her) is a teaching artist with Arts for the Aging who works with sound, movement, and visualization to create an experience of mindfulness, joy, and presence. She is retired from a full-time career in information technology and part-time career as a professional actor and singer. Currently, in addition to her programs with Arts for the Aging, Kathy works as a cabaret performer, healthcare advocate, motivational speaker, and teaches yoga and meditation. For much of her life, Kathy has presented in multiple art forms including music, stage, and print. She sang with the Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, performed children’s theater with Imagination Stage and Adventure Theatre, and sang in several Kennedy Center musical theatre productions. She is certified to teach yoga and meditation with 40 years of study in the mindfulness of words, sound, and movement. Current study includes mindfulness mentoring and a 300 hour yoga therapy immersion certification from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Her mission is to teach how to live with greater happiness, as in her workshop “Don’t Buy into Being Old,” where she teaches how not to easily become societal concepts of life after 50. It is a song, character, movement, or phrases that can bring the mind to presence, joy, confidence, and calm.  As an actor and singer of oratorio, art song, opera, and jazz, she has combined art forms in a one woman show that she calls “cabaret reconstructed.” The objective is to wake up the mind and create ideas flowing in an unexpected direction. She has a B.A. in literature from Fisk University, as well as studies in music, and an M.A. in literature (creative writing) from the University of Maryland. After college, she pursued further music studies with the Levine School of Music and private study.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Nancy Havlik (she/her/they) has over 25 years of experience teaching interactive creative movement and dance workshops for older adults through Arts for the Aging. She presents interactive workshops for people living independently and those with physical and cognitive health conditions in community centers, day health programs, and nursing homes with an emphasis on encouraging participants to move freely and discover their unique creative movement.

Nancy and fellow teaching artist and guitarist/composer Miles Spicer offer Dance and Blues Guitar workshops exploring the history of blues, blues artists and our dances inspired by them. She and fellow teaching artist Adam Gonzales co-direct Quicksilver, an Arts for the Aging sponsored improvisational dance company whose members are 65 and older. Quicksilver presents performances and workshops for older adults throughout Greater DC.

Nancy is Artistic Director/Choreographer of Dance Performance Group, a small, experimental company of professional dancers and musicians. Dance Performance Group has performed extensively in the Washington DC area, New York, and Eastern Europe. She has studied dance/dance improvisation with Robert Dunn, Simon Forti, Susan Rethorst, and physical theater with Saskia Hegt. Nancy has a B.S. and M.A. from Northwestern University Speech Department with a degree as a Speech Pathologist.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Jason Horowitz presents photography workshops that link self-portraits with participants family, memories, and history. He has extensive experience teaching at all levels from childhood through adult, including the Corcoran School of Art & Design, Georgetown University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Arlington County Public Schools. He has exhibited extensively including at the American University Museum, Washington, DC;  Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR; McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA; Peer Gallery, New York, NY; Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC; Richmond International Airport as a Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellow; The Silber Art Gallery, Goucher College, Towson, MD; Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Virginia Beach, VA; American University Museum at the Katzen Center, Washington, D.C.; Honfleur Gallery, Washington, DC; Flashpoint Gallery, Washington, DC; Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA; among others. Horowitz is the recipient of the prestigious Aaron Siskind Foundation Award; The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship; The Franz & Virginia Bader Fund Grant; Arlington County, VA Individual Artist Grant. His work is also in numerous public and private collections. Jason has a B.F.A. from George Washington University and an M.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sloka Iyengar Ph.D. (She/Hers) is a neuroscientist and practitioner of a traditional Indian dance form called Bharatanatyam with a passion for relieving suffering through the sciences and the arts.  Bharatnatyam is a 2,000-year-old traditional Indian dance form that blends expression, emotion, storytelling, music, and rhythm, and supports a systematic narrative structure. As a Teaching Artist for Arts for the Aging, Sloka has incorporated aspects of Bharatanatyam into her virtual creative aging sessions.

For her doctoral and postdoctoral scientific work, Sloka studied mechanisms of seizures and epilepsies in the lab and also translated this work into the clinic. As a scientist, Sloka consults for various non-profits on scientific writing, analysis, and strategy. She is also a science educator and, in this role, teaches at the American Museum of Natural History and St. Joseph’s University. Sloka is also passionate about communicating neuroscience to non-scientists.

As a dancer, her work spans three fields: 1. Learning from her guru and performing in and around New York City; 2. A production called Vichaar (Sanskrit for “thought” or “perception”) that articulates the many points of convergence between the arts and the sciences; and 3. Creating the foundation to use Bharatanatyam for creative aging. This article in the BMJ Medical Humanities blog describes the work of Bharatanatyam in creative aging (https://blogs.bmj.com/medical-humanities/2023/03/07/bharatanatyam-in-creative-aging/). She is also a Board Member of the National Organization of Arts in Health (NOAH). Her motivation for using Bharatanatyam for creative aging comes from losing her mother and mother-in-law in six months, and seeing the lack of autonomy over their bodies these two strong-willed women went through. She aims to bring the gift of Bharatanatyam to older adults to foster a feeling of confidence, grace, and beauty.

In addition to her scientific and artistic pursuits, Sloka loves to swim, lift weights, and go on walks with her pup who is aptly Puppy! More about Sloka’s work can be found on her website: https://www.slokaiyengar.net/.

Erika Johnson is a percussionist who brings her unique musical versatility and voice everywhere, from cabarets to orchestral pits and stages. Recently, Erika was the drummer for the Pulitzer-prize winning, pre-Broadway run of A Strange Loop at Wooly Mammoth Theatre Company. Erika was also seen as the drummer and on-stage band member in Signature Theatre’s highly acclaimed, Girlfriend, where she was described as a “marvel” (DC Metro Arts). A frequent performer of new music, Erika enjoyed introducing the West Coast to John Luther Adams’ Drums of Winter, sharing the bill with percussionist Glenn Kotche as part of the inaugural season for Stanford Live in the Bing Concert Hall. Her virtuosic playing is highlighted on Tribute to Andrew Imbrie, a recording commemorating the composer’s 80th birthday.

A life-long Beatles fan, Erika is excited about her newest venture taking on the role of “Ringo” with the Magical Mystery Girls, an all-women Beatles tribute band. Erika holds a Bachelor of Music, Percussion Performance from Indiana University, and a Master of Music, Percussion Performance from San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the American Federation of Musicians.

Joy Jones is a teaching artist, popular speaker, and the author of several books for adults and children. Her plays have appeared on stages in California, New York, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C. Outdoor Recess won the Promising Playwrights Award from Colonial Players of Annapolis, Md. Her most recent book is Jayla Jumps In, a novel which received a starred review on Booklist and chosen as one of the best sports books for children by the American Library Association. Her novel in progress, Walking the Boomerang, won the 2022 Pen America/ Phyllis Naylor Grant for Children’s and Young Adult Novelists. Jones has provided innovative workshops for seniors through the DC Department of Aging and Community Living and AFTA. Jones is also the founder of DC Retro Jumpers, a double Dutch team that has toured abroad. Visit her at: www.joyjonesOnline.com.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Wall Matthews has been a composer, performer, and teacher since 1968. A founding member of the visionary and critically acclaimed Entourage Music and Theater Ensemble (Smithsonian Folkways Records), he has had a long solo career performing throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. He has also had a long relationship with modern dance, including a stint as Composer for Dance at Connecticut College. His music has been featured by such companies as The Royal Danish Ballet and The Paris Opera Ballet. As Vice President of Creative for Clean Cuts Music, he was an Emmy-nominated composer and wrote music for The Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, National Geographic, The History Channel, independent film projects and national ad agencies. In addition to his recordings on Folkways and Tompkins Square, his own label, Zen Gardens Music has released many critically acclaimed recordings. He currently resides in Columbia, MD and continues to enjoy working for Arts for the Aging doing participatory music programs with older adults and caregivers. If interested, more information and his recordings can be found can be found at: https://wallmatthews.bandcamp.com

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Lauren Mazow Boyle, Ph.D. (she/her) is a licensed psychologist and certified poetry therapist. A word lover herself, she favors poetry that is accessible to all, and brings it into her workshops as an opening to connection, discovery, and beauty. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Potomac, MD in addition to her work as a Teaching Artist with Arts for the Aging. During her career, she has practiced individual and group psychotherapy with children, adolescents, and adults, and has facilitated poetry groups in both clinical and community settings. She earned an A.B. in English from Princeton University, an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The George Washington University. Her interests in the intersection of psychology and literature eventually led her to pursue post-graduate training in poetry therapy at the Wordsworth Center for Poetry Therapy in Potomac, MD, as well as in psychoanalytically-minded writing at the New Directions program of the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, the Maryland Psychological Association, the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, and the National Association for Poetry Therapy.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marilyn Millstone (she/her) is an award-winning playwright, poet and musician who enjoys using the expressive power of these arts to engage and stimulate Arts for the Aging participants. Her plays have been seen on stages across America and, internationally, in Sydney and Dubai. Her full-length drama Proprioception won the prestigious AACT NewPlayFest competition in 2020 and was selected for publication by Dramatic Publishing. Two of Marilyn’s monologues appear in Best Women’s Monologues of 2019, published by Smith and Kraus. Her comedy about two witty seniors – Compos Mentis– is now published by Art Age Publications. She is also a prize-winning essayist and feature writer whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, the Strathmore Performing Arts Center bulletin, and many other publications.

As a teacher, Marilyn enjoys working with people of all ages and backgrounds. She’s served as drama director at the Avalon/ Brookewood K-12 school; taught creative writing in the George Washington University Publication Specialist Program (where she was also the award-winning program director); taught life skills to at-risk youth through a partnership with GWU and Americorps; taught news writing, public speaking and publications design at Editorial Experts; and recently taught a course she created called Contemporary American Female Playwrights for the Johns Hopkins University OSHER program.

Currently, she teaches playwriting at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda. Marilyn holds a BS degree in journalism and environmental studies from American University and an  MFA in playwriting from Spalding University. When she’s not writing or teaching, Marilyn can be found walking her rescue kitty around her leafy neighborhood or playing the Celtic floor harp she and her husband proudly built! More about Marilyn’s work can be found on her website: https://www.marilynmillstone.com

Casey Catherine Moore (she/her) is a bisexual, bipolar poet, writer, educator, and activist. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in Comparative Literature with a focus on Latin poetry, invective, and women’s and gender studies. Her writing centers on gender and sexuality, educational equity, and dis/ability and mental health. Casey’s work appears in academic and creative publications, including The Comparatist, Sinister Wisdom, Oyster River Pages, Bourgeon, and Samfiftyfour. Her poetry collection, Fires, Floods, and the Roots that Remain, is forthcoming with Capturing Fire Press. Featured performance credits include Busboys & Poets, The Kennedy Center, The Nail Salon, Comedy Bonfyre, Mind Gravy Poetry, Poetry Out Loud, and the 2022 March for Medicare for All Rally. Casey Catherine Moore is the co-producer and co-host of Homo Stanzas, a queer spoken word and comedy showcase with Regie Cabico, and hosts the Open Mic at Busboys and Poets Brookland on 4th and 5th Fridays. caseycatherinemoorephd.com / IG: caseycatherinemoore

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Laura Quiroga is a dancer, choreographer, stage manager, and theater extraordinaire hailing from her native country: Argentina. She performed with the ballet of the Teatro Colón and Teatro Argentino de la Plata in Buenos Aires, as well as Teatro Municipal de Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Laura’s second home is Washington DC, where she has developed many dance and creative movement programs, including her workshop “The Inside Out ” for adults and children. This workshop invites its audience to explore and enjoy creative expression through movement, dance, music, and theater. Laura has performed in various cities in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the United States.

Laura was the founder of the creative movement program at Washington International School (WIS), where she taught for 27 years. At WIS, Laura created movement shows with original choreography, scenery, costumes, and musical design with over 120 children performing at one time. She received a Washington Post Grant, for her commitment to eliminate stress in children, and for her creative program.

As for professional dance experience, Laura has danced at the Kennedy Center (Millennium Stage) with Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange, and at the Gala Hispanic Theater for many various productions. She has been Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Galita Theater for children, and has directed many of their productions. She is part of GALA (Grupo Artistas Latino Americanos) for more than 25 years, and received the “Offie” Award, given by the League of the American Theaters of Washington DC, for their dedication to GALA Teatro Hispano.

Laura was part of the “Tango, Cabaret, Love” group, as co-director, dancer, and choreographer, which has participated in the Capital Fringe Festival. She received the “Scene Stealers” Award at the Festival. Laura was also part of the group “Sticks+Bars Youth Marimba Ensemble” as choreographer. She worked with youths ages 10-17 and worked with movement and music with the ensemble at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and many other venues. She is fluent in Spanish, and conversational French and Italian.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Deborah Riley is an Arts for the Aging teaching artist and board of trustee member. She is a life-long dance artist and practitioner of Laban Movement Analysis, the basis for teaching movement arts to people of all ages and abilities. In her capacity as artist-in-residence, faculty member, staff, and Co-Director of Dance Place, she contributed immeasurably to nurturing the careers of thousands of dance artists, students, and arts administrators. Under her tenure, the organization was awarded the DC Mayor’s Arts Awards for Excellence in Service to the Arts and Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education as well as being recognized as “the hub of dance activity in Washington, DC” (Alan Kriegsman). As a dancer, choreographer, and educator, her career highlights include international touring with Douglas Dunn & Dancers, collaborative choreography with Diane Frank and director of Deborah Riley Dance Projects. In addition to guest artist residencies at universities across the country, Deborah’s choreographic work has been presented in the U.S., the U.K. and France. In the DC Metro area, Deborah’s Moving Affirmations workshops helped to facilitate healing and recovery in partnership with community organizations such as the DC Rape Crisis Center, Montgomery County Crisis Center, and Whitman Walker Clinic. Deborah is also currently a teaching artist with Studio Actors Conservatory, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital, and Dance Place. Past honors include Distinguished Alumni in Fine Arts Award from Ohio University and twice with the Pola Nirenska Award – Distinguished Artistic Leadership and Lifetime Achievement Deborah has served on grant panels with the National Endowment for the Arts, Jerome Foundation and Pennsylvania Performing Arts. She holds a BS and MA in Performing Arts and is a certified practitioner of Laban Movement Analysis.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Sandra Roachford has been teaching dance and movement in the D.C. metropolitan area for more than 25 years.  She works with special needs populations of all ages teaching creative movement expression, music and movement, and social skills.  Along with Arts for the Aging, her work includes Artstream and KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now), working with students on the Autism Spectrum. She was recognized by Stone Soup Films under the category of DC Hero, for her work with special needs populations. Sandy currently dances with Nancy Havlik’s Dance Performance Group.  She choreographs, mentors, and performs with the Inclusive Theater Company Silver Spring Company A (Artstream). Sandy has been a valuable member of the Arts for the Aging artistic faculty for more than 22 years – guiding Senior participants to find their creative side through movement with gentle and positive encouragement. She Encourages them to find their physical voice to express how they feel in the moment, as they support their peers in a creative community setting. Sandy has an M.A. in dance from The American University; B.F.A. in dance from The Boston Conservatory of Music.

The Washington Post lauded Carlos César Rodríguez as a “powerful…virtuoso…masterful pianist”. As concert-pianist he made his recital debut in his native Venezuela at age 5, solo orchestral debut at 11, and Carnegie Hall debut at age 21. He has toured Europe and the Americas performing concerti and solo recitals. He has performed at the John F. Kennedy Center; the White House; the Corcoran Gallery, and National Gallery of Arts in Washington, D.C.; Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Americas Society, 92nd Y in New York; and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has appeared as guest artist with Garth Newell Chamber Music Festival, National Chamber Ensemble, and has collaborated with Denyce Graves, Jessye Norman and Plácido Domingo. In 2005 he was awarded the Georg Solti Foundation US fellowship for outstanding young conductors. With the encouragement and collaboration of Maestro Plácido Domingo Mr. Rodríguez implemented the Zarzuela Program (Spanish Operetta) for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists at Washington National Opera. Mr. Rodríguez is the Founding Artistic Director of RÓMEZ3arts with whom he built inter-cultural exchanges in Cuba and Costa Rica between 2016 and the present. He is Music Director for WORD Dance Theatre and appeared with them at the Kennedy Center’s REACH celebrating the 100th anniversary of Women’s Suffrage. Recently he performed in Poland and Italy, with The Isadora Duncan International Institute as well as NYC and Montreal. He continues to teach at the Selma M. Levine School of Music in Washington, DC and collaborates on Arts for the Aging workshops with Peter Burroughs, Alex Russell, and Marla Bush. These include coOPERAtion, The Poetry of Tango, and La Movida.

Alexandra Russell’s love of dance started with folk dancing in her teens. Over the decades she has dabbled in ballet, modern, and jazz dance, while enjoying social dancing for fun. A fondness for swing and salsa led her to the tango, which she started dancing in 2006. Now a tango instructor and historian, Alexandra serves as Program Manager for Older Adult Outreach for Tango Mercurio, an arts-education nonprofit. She became an Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist in 2019 and joined Quicksilver the following year. She is now the managing director for Quicksilver and In 2021 and 2023, she served as Washington, D.C. Site Leader for Quicksilver’s contributions to the Global Water Dances, which she produced and directed. Alexandra has undergraduate and Master’s Degrees in Translation (French and Spanish into English) from the University of Paris, France. She worked for decades as a translator and editor in international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, where she founded a dance club.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Miles Spicer presents workshops that feature him playing acoustic guitar and leading participants in group singing, call and response, and more. A Washington, D.C. area native, Miles plays acoustic blues in the Piedmont style mixing in influences of Jazz, Blues, Soul, Funk, Rock, Cajun, and Zydeco. He is the principle guitarist in M.S.G. The Acoustic Blues Trio and The Riverdale Ramblers. Miles was mentored in the Piedmont guitar style by Mike Baytop and is a founding director of the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation. Miles has a B.A. in economics from the University of Maryland College Park.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Jackie Steven partners with Jason Horowitz to present intergenerational, video storytelling project with the Arlington Adult Day Center and Arlington high school students.  A native of Washington, D.C., Jackie Steven has been involved in the area’s media arts community for over 35 years. An experienced producer and technologist, she has been on staff at Arlington Independent Media (AIM) since 1986 and currently serves as AIM’s director of community programs. In that role, she leads the organization’s education programs, outreach, and commercial production services. During her tenure at AIM, Jackie has developed curriculum for all manner of media classes, taught technology and production to thousands of individuals and created countless hours of content for D.C. artists, performers, and non-profit organizations.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marcie Wolf-Hubbard is in her twelfth year as a visual artist/teaching artist with Arts for the Aging. She shares her love of drawing, painting, and collage/mixed media, much of which is inspired by nature. She provides guidance and encouragement to participants in her art sessions. Marcie is a proud winner of the 2022 Nancy Frankel Artist Award. This annual prize recognizes one of America’s greatest artists and is presented in an effort to continue her legacy in the culture. Marcie has received numerous grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. Grants include Artist Residencies, Artist & Scholars Grants, and Professional Development grants. Artist Residencies have also supported her work in the community with children and adults, including individuals with special needs. Her paintings and sculpture in encaustic (wax) and mixed media have been exhibited widely on the East Coast. Marcie has illustrated for magazines and books, as well as worked as a courtroom illustrator. Her encaustic paintings are featured in Encaustic in the Twenty-first Century by Ashley Rooney. Marcie is an instructor at Glen Echo Park, Yellow Barn Studios, and the Smithsonian. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland in studio art and studied fine art & illustration at the Maryland Institute, College of Art. Marcie is the Education/Social team leader in Ch/Art, a community arts organization in Northwest Washington, D.C., and Maryland. She is an active member of Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA.)

Quicksilver is Arts for the Aging’s dance improvisation company of senior adults, aged 60 years and over. The dancers, most of whom are octogenarians, employ structured improvisational dance pieces inspired by master teachers and artists such as Robert Dunn, Simone Forti, Ruth Zaporah, Eiko & Komo and others in the field of contact improvisation. Quicksilver’s vitality, humor, and rich, varied life experiences inform their development, performance, and engagement in improvisational dance. Co-directed by Arts for the Aging teaching artists Nancy Havlik, with musical director Adam Gonzalez, Quicksilver leads interactive workshops for Arts for the Aging seniors throughout the metro area. Public performances have included those at the International D.C. Improvisation Festival, Executive’s Ball of Montgomery County, D.C. Elderfest, Joe’s Movement Emporium, University of Maryland, and conferences for National Aphasia Association, American Art Therapy Association, and the National Council on Aging. Learn more about Quicksilver here.

Joan Hampton Fraser is currently Arts for the Aging’s teaching artist training consultant and an emerita teaching artist. She has been affiliated with the organization since 1996 and has been working as a creative arts consultant since 1984. Joan supports the program director in developing and co-leading teaching artist trainings and selecting and onboarding prospective Arts for the Aging teaching artists. Joan has worked as a trainer in the private and government sectors since 1989. She has provided training in the following areas – best practices for arts programs for older adults, crisis management, stress management, managing and valuing diversity, preventing sexual harassment, conflict resolution, team building, best approaches to persons undergoing emotional distress, access to all individuals to services and care, and valuing mentorship.

Her creative arts programming work included dance, creative movement, musical theater, creative writing, and poetry. Joan developed and implemented creative arts programming for persons with mental health, intellectual, physical, auditory, visual, and cognitive disabilities. She specializes in work with older adults, having focused on this population throughout her master’s program at George Washington University and concluding her degree with her thesis in 1986 -“The Positive Impacts of Dance in the Lives of Older Adults.” Joan’s program goals with participants has been to access their cognitive, emotional, and kinesthetic strengths as well as to build a sense of community and appreciation for others.

She trained and worked with Liz Lerman and the Dance Exchange and was their coordinator of community programs for older adults. Joan has dance training in modern, jazz, tap, ballroom, improvisation, dance therapy, Alexander and Feldenkreis Techniques, relaxation, and visualization. She also utilizes her extensive background in psychotherapy, family therapy, psychodrama, and system theories to complement her artistic and training work. Joan has a bachelor of arts in sociology/anthropology from Ithaca College, a master of arts in education and human development with specialization in dance in the community from The George Washington University, and a certificate of completion in psychodrama from The DC Commission on Mental Health Services for a yearlong internship at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Washington DC.

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Donna McKee leads workshops in Visual Art and co-taught the series “Moving Art” in collaboration with choreographer Nancy Havlik, exploring rhythm and visual movement through drawing and dance.  Formerly the Head of Education at The Phillips Collection and adjunct faculty at Montgomery College and the Corcoran College of Art and Design, Donna has brought both art history and visual art workshops to seniors at their centers and in special cooperative programs with area museums. Her series of art history slide-discussion programs, “Art Out Loud”, encourages participants to discuss personal observations and responses to works of art that are selected to highlight themes in art that link different cultures and historical periods. Donna is also a collage artist who guides seniors in mixed-media approaches that focus on pattern, color and texture. She has a B.A. in Art History from American University; an M.A. Ed. in Art Education from the University of Hartford; and an M.A. in Art History from American University.

Emeritus Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Carol Siegel has been teaching with Arts for the Aging for over 20 years. She uses mixed media and poetry in her workshops and is a painter. Carol trained through the D.C. Humanities program in poetry therapy and interned at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. She also facilitated groups in poetry and expressive arts at The Art and Drama Institute in D.C. as well as local hospitals. She has presented ideas on her groups with seniors at several national conferences. She is a former professional photographer and has exhibited in many galleries including The Corcoran Gallery of art. She taught photography on many levels and has worked in some art form all her life. Carol received the “Beautiful Minds“ national award from creative aging in 2017. She has an M.A. in expressive therapies from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, studied art history at New York University and has a B.A. from American University in applied art and psychology.