Building on research on family communication and forgiveness, this study seeks to understand how families communicate the value and practice of forgiveness. Through semi-structured interviews, the study asks participants to recall their formative conversations and experiences about forgiveness with their family members and to discuss how those conversations influenced their current perspectives on forgiveness. Interviews from five female undergraduate students yielded seven main themes from where individuals learn how to forgive: 1) Sibling conflicts, 2) Family conversations about friendship conflicts, 3) Conversations with Mom, 4) Living by example, 5) Take the high road, 6) “Life’s too short”, and 7) Messages rooted in faith and morality.

Aging is a universal process that every being encounters on their journey of life. The effect of dance as a form of improvement of physical and well-being on the aging body brings upon the question of the impact of somatic-based movement, specifically gestural movement on the perceptions of aging within older and younger adults through a bi-cultural lens of the United States and India. This was investigated using a series of creative partnership workshops that included listening, drawing, and culminating movement activities, followed by a group discussion about the creative process. There were four different participant groups: a group of college students taking an Aging in American Culture collegiate class, a Somatic Practices collegiate dance class, a group of older adults at the Tempe Multigenerational Center, and a group of older adults in Bangalore, India. Inter-generational and cross-cultural observations were discussed, and it was seen that the workshops were able to foster feelings of community and camaraderie among participants depending on the group’s relationship to dance-making. From the research, a dance performance was developed and performed specifically with women of color in ASU’s Dance program with the choreographic process discussed in detail, along with key takeaways about facilitating a multi-dimensional experience for the dancers and choreographer. Future directions for the work include working with intergenerational populations and researching community effects on gendered aging experiences across cultures in the dance world.