Rhythm is Life: A Community Arts and Cultural Development Model
Launched in 2019, Rhythm is Life is a pioneering creative ageing program designed to increase access to meaningful, culturally responsive arts engagement for older people from First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) backgrounds. Initially delivered in Ultimo and Pyrmont, the program has since expanded to Western Sydney, with plans to grow across the Central Coast and Newcastle over the next five years.
Grounded in a Community Arts and Cultural Development (CACD) approach, Rhythm is Life was co-designed by a professional dancer and dance therapist, a social worker specialising in working with older communities, and members of the Fusion Culture Seniors Group—community elders with a shared passion for bringing the joy of the arts, particularly dance, to older audiences. Extensive community consultation shaped the program’s evolution, expanding its scope to include drumming and visual arts in response to participants’ interests and cultural preferences.
Program Achievements (2019–Present):
• Older participants engaged: 1,407
• Professional dance educators engaged and trained: 53
• Professional drummers engaged: 4
• Professional visual artists engaged: 5
Key Objectives and Outcomes:
1. Promotes productive ageing and healthy lifestyles
Encourages older people to stay physically active, socially connected, and intellectually engaged through arts-based activities that support wellbeing.
2. Fosters creative exploration and self-expression
Inspires older participants to embrace new artistic practices, boosting confidence, curiosity, and a sense of purpose.
3. Strengthens cross-sector partnerships
Facilitates collaboration between the arts sector, aged care services, and community organisations to build holistic, creative support for older people.
4. Elevates awareness of creative ageing
Demonstrates the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of arts participation in later life, advocating for the value of creative ageing within the broader health and community sectors.
5. Celebrates the voices and talents of older people
Showcases the artistic contributions of older participants, challenging ageist narratives and affirming their role as cultural bearers and storytellers.
6. Supports artist development and economic participation
Creates paid opportunities for both emerging and established professional artists, while building their capacity to facilitate inclusive, intergenerational, and culturally respectful creative programs.
Through Rhythm is Life, we aim to build inclusive, empowered, and connected communities where older people are recognised as vital contributors to cultural life. The program exemplifies the social impact of creativity and the power of co-design in delivering sustainable, community-driven arts experiences.
We acknowledge that the traditional custodians of this land we call Australia are holders and custodians of knowledge systems that are passed down from one generation to the next, through an oral tradition practiced for 70,000 years. We also acknowledge the Guringai, Darkinung, Awabakal, Dharug and Gadigal people, on whose lands we live, learn and work, and pay deep respect to their elders, past and present, to their emerging leaders, and to the knowledge embedded forever in the Aboriginal custodianship of Country.