One of Christine Symon's fondest memories is of dancing Rockabilly with her younger brother at the local dance halls. They used to raise hell!
Christine's health is no longer great. She's a mainstay at our Eunice Seddon home in Dandenong, but she is not able to participate in many of the activities organised by Recreation staff.
So she wasn't left out, Liz Marsh, who works in Recreation, organised for Christine's brother and his mates to come over on the weekend and stage a Rockabilly demonstration.
Residents put on their dancing gear, the room was decorated and a space cleared for some extravagant moves.
Christine's brother, Jazz and his partner Sally, plus two fellow dancers arrived and confidently swung each other around the floor to the cheers and clapping by the residents. Jazz introduced the session telling the audience that his sister started him dancing as a teenage boy in the family kitchen and then he was later dragged to dances by his sister and her friends. He said he was forever grateful for his sister's encouragement and as a result has loved dancing ever since. Then the couples invited some of the residents up to dance and showed them a few steps. The room was electric with joy as the resident's moved to the 1950’s beat and some even left their walkers beside their chair to join in the activity.
Towards the end of the session Chris was invited by her brother to dance and they moved a few steps together. Everyone had a tear in their eye as Christine’s face lit up. She was transformed for that moment, and transported to her glory days. Fantastic stuff!