Monday 28th March – Friday 1st April, 2022
Free Event. No booking required.
A free week of fun activities and workshops for our seniors community hosted by the Byron Community Centre.
No booking is needed – just show up!
About the Seniors Festival
Come and enjoy the Byron Shire Seniors Festival 2022 at the Byron Community Centre during the week of 28th March to 1st April. Throughout the week, seniors will be provided with the opportunity to sample and experience various social, creative, healthy and physically active activities. The festival will provide five days of free activities for seniors including art, drama, health, drumming, yoga and meditation, and much more.
The Seniors Festival is a free event that attracts seniors from all over the Northern Rivers region to have fun and connect with each other and group activities in their area.
Festival Schedule
Monday 28th March
Crystal Bowls Soundbath
11:00am – 12:00pm, Byron Theatre
Presenter: Camilla Nova
Art Therapy
1:00pm – 4:00pm, Community Cabin
Reconnecting with self and world
Presenter: Geraldine Devas
Games Room
1:00pm – 4:00pm, Wategos 1
Chess, backgammon, scrabble, banana gram and more
Tuesday 29th March
African Drumming
10:30am – 11:30am, Byron Theatre
Presenter: Gareth Jones, Sound Synergy
Chair Yoga
12:00pm – 1:00pm, Wategos 1
Presenter: Christina Stoevelaar
Wednesday 30th March
Introduction to Chinese Brush Painting
10:00am – 1:00pm, Community Cabin
Presenter: Dianne Brooks
Byron Walks
Wategos 1
Presenters: Jennifer Groves and Rangimarie Ferguson
Choir
10:30am – 11:30am, Byron Theatre
Presenter: Kim Lesley-Davidson
Ukulele
12:00pm – 12:45pm, Byron Theatre
Presenter: Kim Lesley-Davidson
Poetry Workshop
1:30pm – 4:00pm, Wategos 1
Presenter: Laura Shore
Film Night: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Byron Theatre
5:30pm drinks in the courtyard
6:00pm film
Thursday 31st March
Drama Studio 55
10:30am – 12:30pm, Community Cabin
Presenters: Phillipa Williams ad Brin
Yoga for the Ageing Body
10:30am-11:30am, Wategos 1
Focus on Pranayama
Presenter: Pippy Wardell
Descent of Inanna
1:30pm – 3:30pm, Community Cabin
Presenter: Anna Parker
Soundhealing Session
2:00pm – 3:00pm, Wategos 1
Presenter: Kim Lesley Davidson
Friday 1st April
Computer Class: Surfing the Web Safely
9:00am – 11:00am, Community Cabin
Presenter: Byron Community Centre
Family Constellation Workshop
9:00am-1:00pm, Community Cabin
Presenter: Angelique Bennett
Restorative Yoga
1:30pm – 4:30pm, Wategoes 1
Presenter: Christina Stoevelaar
Festival Program
Crystal Bowl Soundbath
Monday 28th March, 11:0am – 12:00pm, Byron Theatre
Crystal Bowl Sound Therapy is a beautiful, gentle, mindful but potent method of transforming the body and emotions, thoughts and feelings into a sense of calmness, clarity and relaxation. This leads to an inner knowing that all is now well and on track in life.
Camilla Nova has delighted in presenting Crystal Bowl Sound Therapy for over 20 years, along with being a practicing Psychologist and a Dru Yoga and Meditation Teacher.
Reconnecting with Your Creative Self
Monday 28th March, 1:00pm – 4:00pm, Community Cabin
Art as therapy to foster wellbeing. The session will facilitate the therapeutic value of creative expression to foster connecting with aspects of our being that need nourishing. No prior art skills required.
Geraldine Devas has been supporting adults and children for over 25 years using creative arts therapy as a therapeutic tool, in schools and the wider community to improve emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. Her work has been inspired by the philosophies of Rudolph Steiner.
African Drumming
Tuesday 29th March, 10:30am – 11:30am, Byron Theatre
Gareth’s classes are the most successful class running in the Seniors Program. Gareth leads you on a journey of drumming that activates all aspects of your body and mind. His sessions are very therapeutic, enjoyable and healing. He leads the class so that anyone can join in from the beginning.
Gareth Jones has been our resident drumming leader for nearly 10 years. Gareth played, performed and honed his love for drumming during 10 years living in South Africa. It was here he was mentored by Zulu elders, performers and musicians, as well as travel to Ghana to study with master drummers. He has now been teaching and performing his sessions professionally for the past 20 years.
Chair Yoga
Tuesday 29th March, 12:00pm – 1:00pm, Wategoes 1
A relaxed and simple yoga session designed specifically for seniors using the chair to assist and support while doing amended yoga poses.
Christina Stoevelaar is a certified Yoga Instructor and Yoga Therapist with a diploma in Holistic Counselling. Her yoga classes and one-on-one sessions foster a sense of safety, a deeper connection to self through somatic movement, gentle stretches and mindful breath work.
Introduction to Chinese Brush Painting
Wednesday 30th March, 10:00am – 1:00pm, Community Cabin
This session introduces the general principles, materials and skills associated with the ancient art form of Chinese brush painting. Its long history of over 3,000 years combines the beauty of painting with spiritual harmony and tranquillity.
Diana Brookes studied and practiced Chinese Brush Painting for almost 20 years with weekly lessons given by Mr. Maurice Lin at the Julian Ashton School of Art, then later at Mr. Lin’s private studio both in Sydney. In 1996 she went on a four-week study tour at the Central Institute of Fine Arts in Bejing, China. While there she attended lessons given by Professor Jin Hogjiun and Professor Yao Zhih.
Byron Walks (in partnership with Australian Heart Foundation)
Wednesday 30th March, 10:00am- 12:00pm, Wategoes 1
Movement Intelligence Australia presents ‘Byron Walks’ using Norwegian walking poles. Focusing on postural re-education for better alignment, building stronger bones and allowing more ease and grace with every step. We have 10 sets of poles available and we can support you with the Heart Foundation Australia registration.
Jennifer Groves – Senior Movement Intelligence Trainer, Feldenkrais practitioner, NDIS & Respite provider
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0418440039
Rangimarie Ferguson: National Director of Movement Intelligence – Senior Movement Intelligence Trainer.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0431854037
Choir
Wednesday 30th March, 10:30am – 11:30am, Byron Theatre
Ukulele
Wednesday 30th March, 12:00pm – 12:45pm, Byron Theatre
Kim Lesley Davidson is a wonderful musician and highly qualified art therapy teacher. She has been in a number of bands in the Northern Rivers as a musician and lead singer. Her latest band was with her wonderful partner Hanuman Robert Grayson (RIP) called Loco Love and the Furry Cardigan. They played a fabulous set at the Opening Night of the Seniors Festival in 2021. Kim’s classes are always enjoyable.
Recollections Poetry Workshop – Transmuting Personal Memories into Public Poetry
Wednesday 30th March, 1:30pm – 4:30pm, Wategoes 1 Room
For what is a poem but a hazardous attempt at self-understanding: it is the deepest part of autobiography. – Robert Penn Warren
Reconnect to key moments of childhood and put them through the alchemical process that renders memory into art. Emphasis is on crafting raw material into a public poem.The microcosm of a personal experience becomes an expression of the universal. Please bring a family childhood photo or an object/heirloom that triggers memories.
Laura Jan Shore has taught poetry and creative writing for 40 years. Her poetry collections include Breathworks (Dangerously Poetic Press, 2002), Water Over Stone (Interactive Press, 2011), Afterglow (Interactive Press, 2020). Her work has been published in anthologies and literary journals on four continents. She received her MFA in Poetry from Pacific University.
Website: www.laurajanshore.com
Free Film ‘Priscilla Queen of the Desert’
Wednesday 30th March, Byron Theatre
Film starts at 6:00pm, doors open at 5:30pm for drinks and chat in the courtyard.
Door prize for the most flamboyant ‘Priscilla’ costume.
Studio 55 Seniors Drama
Thursday 31st March, 10:15am – 12:00pm, Community Cabin
Studio 55 is a theatre class for anyone over 55 which runs every Thursday morning between 10:15am and 12:00pm at the Community Cabin. Studio 55 works largely with improvisation so no line learning is necessary. Areas the group has explored over the last four years are commedia, red nose clowning, mask, creative writing, text, the hero’s journey, object theatre, movement, voice, theatre games and improvisation. No experience is necessary and anyone is welcome to come and give it a go. The benefits for seniors are many, not least of which, there is a lot of laughter.
Philippa Williams has been offering theatre classes, courses and community theatre performances to the Byron Bay area for the last 11 years and worked as an actor, theatre teacher and director for 20 years before that in England.
Yoga for the Ageing body – Focus on Pranayama
Thursday 31st March, 10:30am-11:30am, Wategoes 1
A yoga class is for older people with a bit of yoga experience ready to explore the use of breath during your practice. The act of breathing is simple and complex at the same time. You will learn how to breathe as a yogi. This will enhance your daily fitness and bring a deeper understanding of how you can have some control of your aging body, just when it seems it’s totally out of your control.
Pippy Wardell has been a yogini and yoga teacher for over 40 years. She has taught in India, New York and Australia. Her depth of understanding, combined with her knowledge and experience of the aging body, brings a fresh perspective to the wonders of yoga as the body grows older.
Art Class
Thursday 31st March, 1:30pm – 4:30pm, Wategos 1
Kim Lesley Davidson will guide you through a 1-hour sound bath using varying instruments including crystal bowls, bringing you to a place of deep inner relaxation and healing. Bring a yoga mat and a shawl for comfort.
Kim Lesley Davidson is an artist, teacher, musician and performer. She has been holding her classes at the Byron Community Centre for the last five years. She is dedicated to her love of art and music. Her classes are easy and enjoyable.
Descent of Inanna
Thursday 31st March, 1:30pm – 3:30pm, Community Cabin
This workshop deals with the anima and animus and the ongoing relationships between the male and female. It’s a powerful workshop that brings good insight into the workings of the male and female throughout the ages. It relates it to the ongoing yin-yang pull of the internal dialogue of each individual, and also the interactions within current relationships between male and female.
Anna Parker is a Celebrant, Homeopathic Healer, Musician, Choir Teacher and Mystic.
Computer Class: Surfing the Web Safely
Friday 1st April, 9:00am-11:00am, Community Cabin
Alistair Kingsley presents a class that will show you how to surf the web safely and avoid the pitfalls of scammers and information loss on the Internet. He will also show you how to streamline your searches and get the information you are looking for faster.
Restorative Yoga
Friday 1st April, 1:30 pm- 4:30pm, Wategoes 1
Restorative Yoga is the practice of asanas, each held for longer than in conventional yoga as exercise classes, often with the support of props such as folded blankets, to relax the body, reduce stress and often to prepare for pranayama.
Christina Stoevelaar leads a refreshing and relaxing session that gives your body a total revitalisation. This is a wonderful way to end your festival adventure.
Contact
For more information please contact the Byron Community Centre on (02) 6685 6807 or [email protected].
Proudly funded by NSW Seniors Festival, Department of Communities and Justice, Byron Theatre and Byron Community Centre
