Movers
and Shakers
Tambourines heard 'round the world
by
Elizabeth Eidlitz
October 15, 2006 — The opening of
Hopkinton’s new senior center, no longer a depressed basement
room in the Town Hall but a separate expanse of light and window
views, should be marked with French horns and drum rolls — or a
shaking of tambourines by residents, inspired by their
counterparts 25 miles to the north.
Redefining “movers and shakers,” 16 spirited senior citizens
from Concord meet weekly to slap and rattle tambourines bedecked
with red, white and blue ribbons. Rehearsing for performances,
these “Senior Shakers of the Council on Aging” practice a series
of “sitting dances” and a medley of musical maneuvers.
The group of 3 men and 13 women, --the youngest member is 74;
the oldest, 94-- began 4 years ago after a COA outreach worker,
Margaret A'Hearn,
showed
them a performance video and training tape she’d been sent, and
asked, “Think we can do that?”
The response, “Why
don’t we try it?” spurred the seniors to order $9 tambourines,
collect sheet music, and acquire tapes of the folk favorite
“Turkey in the Straw,” and Scott Joplin music, the group choice.
STORY - >
Tambourine beats — and tricky anatomical coordinations of knees,
hands, elbows, wrists, toes, and legs — are part of more than a
dozen maneuvers, like “Airplane” and “ Drum Roll.” Learning to
play a variety of intricate numbers, the Shakers started
entertaining other seniors at special party performances.
“It took us two years to catch on and get anywhere,” Marge
Stetson, Senior Shakers coordinator, admits, “but eventually, we
progressed to nursing homes, schools, senior centers, birthday
parties, and beyond-- and upgraded our boom box.
“Tapes wear down after a while, and Cambridge SoundWorks
graciously awarded us a CD player. We also traded our ordinary
clothes for costumes: reversible red vests embroidered with our
logo, white pants, shoes and socks, white blouses or shirts, red
or blue ties. ”
In 2005 the group was asked to play on the UPN morning news
segment, “Robie on the Road.” Then, in a memorable leap from
Boston’s Channel 38 to the West Coast, the Senior Shakers
appeared for 40 seconds on the Jay Leno show in Burbank, CA.
“We’d sent him a five
minute tape, made by
WAVM, a student-run radio and cable TV station broadcasting from
Maynard High School,” Stetson explains. “ Within a week, Leno
invited us to appear on the Tonight Show. He treated us
like celebrities--paid our way, put us up, fed us, and gave us a
tour of the studio so we could see how they put a program
together.”
Last July, the Shakers traveled by Council on Aging van to play
at the International Lions Club Convention Center, in Boston.
Between now and December, Stetson has lined up more than 10
gigs, including half hour programs at the Acton Lutheran church,
Bedford Women’s Fellowship, Waltham COA, and Stow Senior Housing
Project .
The Shakers charge no fee, but welcome donations to the Concord
Friends of the Aging.
Shirley Weinberg, 78, who was amazed by the Shakers from the
audience, signed up last spring to join for the camaraderie,
laughter, and joyous music. After being trained, with two other
hopefuls, by the 94-year-old member, a lifelong country
musician, Weinberg was accepted as a performer. “At first it was
impossibly difficult, and I played with a plastic plate so my
mistakes weren’t so noticeable.”
Now an enthusiastic Shaker, for whom the routines have at last
become automatic muscle memory, Weinberg performs appropriately
with a percussion instrument traditionally associated with joy
and dancing, and times of happiness and celebration.
