Thanks to Momentia Seattle, there’s a lot going on in Seattle for people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of memory loss. Momentia is an umbrella movement under which creative activities take place. Let me introduce you to Pam Nolte, Co-founder/Community Liaison of TAPROOT THEATRE COMPANY who’s working with people experiencing Early Stage Memory Loss (ESML).
 Pam Nolte as Mrs. Levi in The Matchmaker at Taproot Theatre Photo by Erik Stuhaug Here she tells us of her acting class at Edmonds Center for the Performing Arts. Pam Nolte: I wish you could experience first hand some of the incredible moments in our work that you support and never see; moments when actors become healers in unexpected ways. A moment like that happened this past Tuesday in our ESML improv class at Edmonds Center for the Performing Arts. Since you weren’t there, I’ll attempt to paint a picture with words for you. It was the first day of class in a brand new setting with students we’d never worked with before. Lead teacher, Rob Martin, improviser extraordinaire, and I had gone over the curriculum for class as we carpooled together from North Seattle to Edmonds… so many possibilities, so many unknowns. As we were introduced to our students it was obvious to me that one of the couples (care partner and loved one with dementia) would present a unique teaching challenge. This beautiful, sparkling-eyed woman with limited mobility, seeming lack of speech and unknown comprehension was here for an improv class with her husband of 61 years. I learned that she had been a choir member for years. That bit of information was tucked into my memory. I was determined to find a way “in” if it could be found.
With each game we played, I watched for the spark in the eyes of my lovely new friend by my side. I took her hand when we played the silly stretching game we warm up with and I sang a bit of a musical scale with her when we had to come up with a name for our part of the game. When she sang a bit of the scale back to me I knew she was there, understanding, just waiting for a language that was still available to her. Class progressed. She was slow and needed help with nearly everything we did, but she caught the furry soft ball that is part of a favorite game we play. She laughed. She sparkled. At the end of the class we played a game we called “Let’s Be (fill in the blank)”. When “dancers” was the word that was tossed out to our fellow classmates I started humming the boogie woogie to her and she rose slowly to her feet and danced with me, eventually moving to her husband to take his hands. When she leaned over to kiss him the entire class knew we had just experienced something very precious. She had come back to life before our very eyes. Does it matter that she won’t remember the moment? I don’t think so. The joy follows. She and her husband shared a moment of laughter and fun. And for me, a little girl who started her life thinking she’d be a nurse and who then ended up becoming an actor, my world made sense once again. Art and the power of story has the potential to heal in profound and unexpected ways. Stories, from the grandest to the simplest, can stir our souls and heal our spirits as we build community together. That community is made up of all of us. Including those who have forgotten and been forgotten. Your gifts of encouragement and support help us do this work. Thank you, Pamela Nolte, TTC Co-founder/Community Liaison
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