Kairos Alive!
Kairos Alive! is a Minneapolis arts organization that uses participatory dance, music and storytelling in community and care settings. Its programmes bring together older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers and people of different generations. The organization works across the connected fields of arts education, creative aging and arts in health.
Organization profile
- Organization type
- Arts and health organization
- Headquarters / base
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
- Geographic scope
- Twin Cities programmes with wider arts and health collaborations
Medical focus
Activities
Population served
Participatory arts across generations
The organization’s approach reflects the work of founder Maria Genné. Its repertoire draws on dance and movement improvisation, singing, theatre, poetry and oral history. Participants contribute their own movements, experiences and stories, making the activity a shared creative process.
Kairos describes performances and participatory work in schools, nursing homes, museums, parks and community centres. It identifies itself as a community arts and arts education organization, working alongside healthcare, social service and community development professionals. Its public mission emphasizes access across ages, cultures and abilities.
Sources: [1].
Dancing Heart in care settings
Dancing Heart brings regular arts sessions to long-term care, assisted living, adult day care and senior community centres. The programme includes older adults with physical frailty or cognitive impairment, including people living with dementia. Sessions combine dance, music and storytelling rather than relying on a conventional audience watching a performance.
The teaching artist team works with participants and caregivers, using memories and personal experiences as material for movement and stories. Minnesota’s Board on Aging resource listing, updated on 22 January 2026, independently identifies Dancing Heart and the organization’s Twin Cities service area.
Caregivers and community programmes
Moving Well provides workshops for staff and caregivers, with both in-person and live virtual formats. Kairos also develops community residencies with arts, healthcare, education, Tribal and social service organizations. The residency format allows activities to be planned around a particular community and its participants.
Intergenerational Dance Hall offers public participation through dance, music and story. Together, these programmes describe an arts-engagement and professional-learning role. Their inclusion in care settings does not by itself establish a disease treatment effect; the organization’s programme descriptions and the dated state listing document the activities and intended participants.
Further health reading
Dancing Heart includes people living with dementia in participatory dance, music and storytelling. This guide explains the condition and support needs.
Kairos names people with Parkinson’s disease among Dancing Heart participants. This overview provides background on the movement condition.
Sources
Institutional relationships