Latin Dance Fiesta at Collaroy Centre

On Friday 10 February 2023, we at The Salvation Army Aged Care held our very first Latin Dance Fiesta at Collaroy Centre on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. This event was helmed by our Elizabeth Jenkins Place Aged Care Centre, Pacific Lodge Aged Care Centre and Warringah Place Retirement Village, all coming together to celebrate the wonderful seniors in our community for this year's NSW Seniors Festival. The aim was to create a day of entertainment, education, fun and to connect with our local community.  

Collaroy Centre was decorated with garlands of shimmering tassels, brightly coloured paper fans and multicoloured ribbon buntings, to really get into the fiesta spirit. Staff members who took part donned colourful, sparkly hats and feather boas. 

The event's 3-hour program consisted of two Zumba Gold classes with instructor Luiza and performances by Latin dancers from Tropical Soul Dance Studio (Tropical Soul). There were also information tables and guided tours organised by our staff, where interested attendees could hop onto a bus to visit the two Centres and the Retirement Village. 

We were absolutely thrilled to be joined by Leticia and Gabriel from Argentina, who performed Bachata and are multiple times World Latin Dance Cup Champions, currently in Australia as a part of their world tour. We also showcased the amazing paintings of two artists who reside at Warringah Place Retirement Village, which added even more vibrancy to the atmosphere. Collaroy Centre provided a generous and delicious assortment of sandwiches, pastries, quiches and brownies.

Tropical Soul’s trio of Samba dancers kicked off the day’s festivities, followed by performances of Salsa and Bachata. Tropical Soul’s Jaime acted as an MC and set the tone for the day with his high energy. You could see the grins on the faces of both attendees and staff as the sparkly dancers in bright orange and pink feathered Samba costumes entered the room and the loud, upbeat music began to play. Everyone clapped along to the beat of the music and could not help but enjoy and admire the charisma and chemistry of the Salsa and Bachata pairs, who twirled and moved with skill, with audible ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ throughout the room.

At Elizabeth Jenkins Place and Pacific Lodge, residents enjoyed their own dance entertainment with an experienced Cuban Salsa duo. The duo talked through the history of Cuban Salsa before demonstrating some easy moves for the residents to follow and a performance showcasing their dance skill. 

Zumba instructor Luiza prepared a dynamic playlist of songs and a range of different routines, which really got everyone into the groove. Luiza guided everyone through the routines and her enthusiasm was infectious, with a large portion of the attendees taking part and getting into the spirit as they displayed their own dance skills and had a boogie. Everyone was eager to dance for the entire half-hour sessions and taking minimal breaks. Shieldy joined Luiza at the front and took part in the sessions, showing off his own moves. Staff also took part and enjoyed themselves, getting into the swing of the Zumba Gold routines.