For 16 years the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies - a theatrical phenomenon in Palm Springs, California - has vividly demonstrated that growing older needn’t mean growing old. Its beautiful, energetic dancers (in their 60s, 70s and 80s!) delight and amaze audiences through nine 3-hour shows per week, seven months per year. The UCLA Center on Aging is a leading center for research and education programs on the mental and physical health of seniors. For the first time ever, these two organizations are joining forces to present an entertaining and informative evening symposium, Living Better Longer.

UCLA Center on Aging Director Dr. Gary Small and Follies Co-Founder Riff Markowitz will lead an “all star” panel of Follies cast members (ages 58 to 83), including the “World’s Oldest ‘Still Performing’ Show- girl” (according to Guinness), Dorothy Kloss. Topics will include:

• Fitness
• Diet
• Mental Acuity
• Relationships
• Careers
• Medical Advances
• Maintaining an Active Purpose

Tickets are also available for Follies matinee performances on May 4 and 5 for attendees who want to see first-hand a demonstration of the symposium’s theme. This season’s Follies is entitled Gotta Dance!

Click here to download this information as a .pdf.

RIFF MARKOWITZ Follies producer and co-founder. He has welcomed nearly 3 million patrons to the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies during 16 seasons. Under his guidance, the show has earned an international reputation as an extraordinary entertainment experience and has shown the world a new way to look at aging. As the Follies’ politically incorrect Master of Ceremonies, Markowitz has presided over 3,400 performances (without missing a show!) and, with his pithy and satirical onstage observations, has confronted then deflated cultural tensions ranging from race to religion to age.

GARY SMALL, M.D. Professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA. He is the Director of the UCLA Center on Aging and one of the leading physician/scientists in the field of memory and longevity. Dr. Small has authored over 500 scientific publications, received numerous awards and written three bestsellers (The Longevity Bible, The Memory Bible, and The Memory Prescription). He was named one of the world’s top 50 innovators in science and technology by Scientific American Magazine.

DOROTHY KLOSS Follies Long-Legged Lovely. At age 83, she is the eldest member of the Follies cast and the current Guinness World Record holder as “World’s Oldest ‘Still Performing’ Showgirl.”