How-To Guide

Let’s Dance: Planning an Intergenerational Prom

Many communities are now holding Intergenerational Dances aka “Senior Proms.” This is a great opportunity to mingle, dance, and dress up. Read on to see how you can use the Bridges Together methodology to create your own event!

1. Convene an “IG Leadership Team,” ideally with 3-5 representatives from at least two organizations Members may include senior center staff, teachers, volunteers, parents, and/or students. Often times, a high school or college plans and hosts the event for older adults, the “guests.” Consider asking leaders of the “guests” to help plan the event. As a team, you will make decisions about your event and with whom to partner. Potential partners include: • “Hosts” may include: public/private/charter high school community service groups, National Honor Society, high school Girl Scout/Boy Scouts, religious school programs going through their rites of passage (confirmation candidates, girls and boys becoming bar/bat mitzvahs), college-based service organizations • “Guests” may include: senior center members, senior housing (public or private, assisted living community residents, or nursing home residents)

2. Plan Your One-Time IG Program Decide what program is best for your community. • Establish goals and a timeline for your program. When and where will your dance be held? What resources will you need? What do you want the takeaway to be? • Plan a way to evaluate your program. Consider using surveys, pictures or videos, pre- and post-program questionnaires. Similarly, you can record stories and anecdotes.

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• Keep in mind your target audience and choose an age-appropriate activity. Will you have a theme? What will you do during the dance to encourage engagement between the generations and what will the format of the dance be? • Secure funding for your IG program. Consider sharing the costs across Leadership Team organizations, or partner with local businesses, community groups, and community or education foundations. Approach Friends of Senior Centers, PTOs, and individual donors. Recognize your funding partners in your program and in your PR material. Make sure to send thank you notes to donors and key supporters!

Below you can find a list of ideas to help you plan your intergenerational community service event!

2A. Choose an Ice Breaker Activity • Invite people to bring a photo from their “original” prom. Make color copies and post them. Consider taking a Polaroid photo at this event so that you can post the two photos side by side. Alternatively, you could create a game and have attendees try to match up the old photos with the new ones. • Break people into intergenerational teams: Provide a list of top songs from different decades and have them put the songs in order. • Consider having young hosts/hostesses at each table to mingle with and serve the guests at that table. • On the tables, put Bridges Together’s Grand Conversation Cards or lists of questions to stimulate conversations

2B. Plan a Mini-Lesson • Learn about the traditions of prom. Perhaps show a slideshow of how styles and prom dresses have changed throughout the years. • Learn vocab associated with prom like: o Theme o Corsage o Limo o After-Party o Formalwear

2C. Discuss Life Review Questions • Invite people to come up to the mic and share their favorite/funniest/most poignant prom memories

2D. Decide on a Main Activity • Grades PreK-6 o Have someone lead dances from the different decades. (Take a look at the end of this resource!)

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o Have tables where people can make prom-related crafts like tissue paper flowers. o Show movies clips (with no sound) on a big screen and create a slideshow with the pictures that guests bring. o Play a round of musical chairs.

• Grades 6-12 o Do karaoke with top hits from the decades. See our list below. o Do a cakewalk. Traditionally, people bring cakes that are numbered. Squares with numbers are laid out on the floor. Music is played. When the music ends, people step on a square and win the cake that corresponds. o Have prizes for “best dressed,” vintage dress/outfit, best dance moves, etc.!

• All ages o Do a dance-off for the best moves or longest time on the dance floor. Make sure you have judges! o Play some trivia and have each table be an intergenerational team. • Questions can be related to prom or be on music. Consider playing “Name that Tune.” o Have a table with arts and crafts where participants can decorate their nametags to reflect their personality or the things they like.

2E. Lead a summary discussion. Decide if you want to offer reflection time. • Have a picture booth where people can take pictures and write messages on the back to give to another person. • What was your favorite part of the night? • What is one thing you learned about someone from another age group? • What music or dance moves did you discover?

2F. Consider serving refreshments • Ask planning committee members to think back to what hors d’oeuvres and drinks were popular during different decades.

2G. Handout Evaluations if you have them.

3. Run your IG program in your community! 4. Evaluate your program

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• Review your goals. An easy evaluation format is the “Rose Format.” (Thorn: something that could be improved, Rose: something that worked well or proved to be effective, Bud: something that you are looking forward to in the future.) o How did you do? • Send us your photos! • If you found your event to be a success and are interested in planning another event, check out our How-To Guides at www.BridgesTogether.org

Top Dances form Different Decades:

Folk Dances: Cotton-Eyed Joe, Hokey Pokey, Square Dances 1910s: tango 1920s: Charleston 1930s: swing, foxtrot, waltz 1940s: jitterbug, swing, lindy hop 1950s: Madison, “The Swim,” “The Mashed Potato,” “The Twist,” “The Watusi,” “The Shake,” and “The Hitchhike.” Following the Foxtrot, Bunny Hop, Swing, Stroll 1960s: “The Frug” (pronounced ‘froog’), “The Pony” “The Dog” and “The chicken: (not to be confused with the later Chicken Dance). “The Loco-Motion”, The Twist, the Stroll, the Mashed Potato 1970s: Bump, Hustle, YMCA 1980s: Walk Like an Egyptian, Chicken Dance, Lambada, Moonwalk, Electric Slide 1990s: Macarena, updated Cotton-Eyed Joe, Achy Breaky Heart 2000s: Cha Cha Slide, Electric Slide, Ketchup Song 2010s: Whip and Nae Nae, Dabbing, Hit the Quan

Top Songs from Different Decades:

1930s: Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland 1940s: I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams 1950s: Hound Dog by Elvis Presley 1960s: Mack the Knife by Bobby Darrin 1970s: You Light Up My Life by Debby Boone 1980s: Physical by Olivia Newton-John 1990s: One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men 2000s: We Belong Together by Mariah Carey 2010s: Happy by Pharrell Williams

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