Festivities on the Dance Floor

December 03, 2025

Charles Camuglia has spent more than four decades teaching dance, but the work that now defines him isn’t found in studios or on polished stages. For the past 25 years, his focus has been devoted to aged care, where music and movement are helping residents reconnect with memories long thought lost, and this Christmas season has a bit of extra sparkle.

Often, he’s the first person to take a resident’s hand on a dance floor in decades. In that simple gesture, the movement transcends choreography, becoming a doorway to history, and a spark of joy that reconnects them with who they once were.

A single song can unlock a lifetime: the tune that played when someone first met their partner, the melody once sung together, or the music that carried them through their wedding waltz.

“We’ve got the easy job,” Charles says, his eyes lighting up. “We get to make the residents smile and rekindle their past. You can see their minds light up, their souls sing, and their bodies remember.”

Despite more than two decades of dancing in aged care homes, he insists it has never felt like work. “I can feel their smiles,” he says.

“Whether they use a walker, a wheelchair, or are in bed, I take their hand to dance and for many, it’s something they haven’t done in years.”

Charles calls it mind, body, and soul: the mind stirred by memories, the body awakened by movement, and the soul nourished by joy.

He never rushes, slowly he takes his time to let each resident know they are safe.

He notices the smallest cues, a tapping toe, a gentle sway, and matches the dance to the spirit inside.

“I’ll take their hand, look into their eyes, and wait until I find that person,” he explains.

“Trust is the biggest goal, and it takes time. We don’t dance at them; we dance with them.”

Beside him is Candy, his longtime dance partner, who brings sparkle and warmth to the floor.

“I’m told I make the experience magic, but the truth is, they make it magic for me.”

She’s seen residents who had suffered strokes or heart attacks work hard just to stand and share a few moments with her on the floor.

“They tell me they’ve been going to the gym just so they can dance again, it’s not about the steps, it’s about hope.”

For Margaret, a resident of Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT)’s Nagle Aged Care home at Sutherland, she said the experience is pure joy.

“I love the movement, even from my wheelchair,” she says.

“When you dance, you feel like you’re part of it, not just watching.

“I used to dance rock’n’roll through the ’60s and ’70s, and every time I join in now, it takes me back there.

“I always leave feeling so happy, and the others talk about it for weeks.”

In the end, what Charles and Candy bring to the dance floor is far greater than movement. It is the gift of belonging, of reminding residents that their stories still matter and their joy still shines.