Diana Jones Senior Center SU-CASA Residency

The clients I worked with at Diana Jones Senior Center composed and recorded original songs, wrote poetry, collaborated with me on a short film, and completed a finale performance showcasing their songs, poems, and film for members, staff, and invited guests on the afternoon of June 28, 2024. I was very lucky to work at such a supportive senior center with an incredibly helpful and welcoming staff headed by the wonderful Roxana Morales.

While I was initially planning to work only on composing, recording, and performing songs and filming the clients’ creative process, I decided to open up my program in additional ways. Two members of our musical collective, which the clients named El Combo De Diana Jones, wanted to express themselves through poetry. Several other clients who were not part of the musical ensemble allowed themselves to be interviewed about their lives and their experiences at Diana Jones.

I feel so lucky to have had the creative freedom and latitude to tailor the program to the interests of the clients with whom I was so fortunate to work.

Diana Jones: Life Stories & Songs, a film by Alex Sniderman

In addition to the music program, I created a short film to document the creative process of the group as they created and practiced for the finale performance on June 28. A rough cut is viewable at the link below. The film project also offered the chance to bring in voices of Center members who were not participating in the music program. I wanted to offer the other members an opportunity to share openly about their lives and experiences both before and since coming to Diana Jones.