Three kinds of movement are at the heart of WHY WE DANCE

From isolation to community

In March of 2020 the Senior Center of Newton, MA closed its doors in response to COVID 19.  Almost immediately, their beloved Zumba Gold® dance class taught by Ketty Munaf Rosenfeld went online. Friends told friends, and soon 100 women were signing onto Zoom from all over the country, dancing from their own private, often solitary worlds. A feeling of connection began to flow through the computer screen from Ketty out to us and from us back to her. Dancing together virtually, we were making new friendships and growing physically and emotionally stronger. We were feeling joy.

Making the film ourselves

One of our dancers, the filmmaker Michal Goldman, thought we should make a film about our dance class. Ketty and the dancers agreed. From 2021 into 2022, 28 people used their phones to film themselves dancing, and we recorded some of our classes on Zoom. Over the next several years Michal edited all this material, showing it to the dancers for their feedback. In September 2024 we had a sneak preview of the finished film at our local theater to a standing ovation.

The urge to share

Many of the women in WHY WE DANCE are grandmothers. The connection between grandmothers and grandchildren can be one of the happiest and most sustaining human relationships in both directions. Surely that’s the kind of relationship to build on and reach out from, with peers and across generations.

WHY WE DANCE is available in two lengths: 42 minutes and 36 minutes.