Media Release
May 17 2007
Dance moves fit for healthy ageing
Since gaining her Master of Health Science (Gerontology) degree at
the age of 63 years, Ann Tregenza hasn’t missed a beat. Her degree at
UniSA has enabled her to further develop her passion for teaching folk
dancing to help people keep fit and active in their older years.
A qualified physiotherapist, Tregenza practised at the Adelaide
Children’s Hospital (now Women’s and Children’s) and then in Canada and
England, before returning to Australia and eventually back to Adelaide,
where she worked as a physiotherapist in retirement villages and taught
folk dancing and movement to music for many years.
“I felt that teaching dancing was something that I could continue to do
in my later years to help older people keep active, but I wanted to
improve my knowledge of people and how they age,” Tregenza said.
“Studying at the University has been a great interest for me and
certainly sharpened my mind. The degree helped me to improve my
knowledge of sociology, attitudes towards ageing and people’s families,
and of aged people themselves.
“It also gave me a good understanding of the changing types of exercises
that would be suitable for people as they age and helped me to select
appropriate folk dances for their fitness levels and abilities,”
Tregenza said.
“The health benefits of folk dancing are considerable. People in the
classes have shown improvements in stamina, fitness, balance,
coordination and memory, as well as psychologically. They see the
classes as a wonderful opportunity to interact socially and do exercise
while having fun,” she said.
“Most of the classes are attended by women. Folk dancing involves
circles and lines and not so many partner dances so anyone can join in.
That’s another reason why there are mostly women. Some are without
partners, having been widowed or divorced.
“I teach folk dances from many cultures including dances particularly
for women and some for everybody. I also choose slower dances for some
of the older dancers including two ladies over 80 years, who hold hands,
which helps with their stability.”
Whether able or disabled, Tregenza believes that folk dancing can be
adapted for almost everyone. She has run many workshops at retirement,
aged care and day care facilities and community centres throughout
Adelaide. This includes workshops that show how folk dancing can be
adapted to suit people in wheel chairs.
As well as presenting papers at national and international conferences
on the effectiveness of dancing for older people, Tregenza has written a
book, “Older women participating in multicultural dancing” and made a
video of dance moves, which has been distributed Australia wide.
In addition to writing books including “Now I’m 64”, “Diary of drought”,
and a book of poetry, Tregenza, who is turning 73 this year, is studying
the history of Australia and next year plans to write “Now I’m 74”.
Contact for interview
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Ann Tregenza phone (08) 8295 2576 mobile 0400 770 466 email lol@bettanet.net.au
Media contact
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Geraldine Hinter office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832
email geraldine.hinter@unisa.edu.au