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Comedian's hilarious raps get nursing home residents grooving any way they can

Pauline Schantzer (aka Polly Wolly) created "The Finger Dance" so those in wheelchairs can groove.

therealpollywolly/Instagram

Comedian Polly Wolly raps and dances with nursing home residents.

You're never too old to sing or dance. And Los Angeles-based comedianomedian Pauline Schantzer (@therealpollywolly) is making it her mission to keep residents in nursing homes doing both. The actress, writer and rapper (aka Polly Wolly) has been bringing her beats, songs and dance moves to nursing and assisted living homes, inspiring them to live it up and find joy.

"I started performing in nursing homes in November 2023," Polly tells Upworthy.

She got connected with her first nursing home via her friend, Rena Hirsch, who was the director of the nursing home that first booked Polly. "At first I didn't plan to pursue [work] in nursing homes. But I grew up going to see my grandma in the nursing home, and my mom Judy who is my comedic inspiration also lives in an assisted living home," she shares. "She has minor dementia, so it means a lot to me to give people laughter. My mom used to be full of laughs and jokes, and she's lost that. So it's been really tough on me to experience that. And humor is how I've dealt with it."

Understanding her audience, Polly recently created a song called "The Finger Dance" that allows everyone to get dancing, including those in wheel chairs. In the video, Polly raps and sings as she interacts with the residents. "In the wheelchair, let's groove! What's that button do? Oh ooh. It's electric, vroom vroom. Can't get up? That's fine! Put your fingers up real high, aye!" she raps and sings in the video.

She continues, "Move it from side to side. Yeah girl, looking real fly! Aye! Shake them fingers, don't be shy. You got arthritis? Come on just try!" Polly pans the camera to the small crowd, who have their fingers up and are grooving along with her.

The sweet video got tons of supportive comments from viewers. "Ur in those homes everyday! I love it! Respect what you do so much, laughter is the best medicine," one wrote. Another added, "👏👏 I love how you bring a moment of happiness and joy to our seniors !! ♥️" And another viewer shared, "You've got me over here doing the finger dance at my desk while at work. Lol."

Polly adds, "I wrote this song, 'The Finger Dance' because my mom always did this dance [with her fingers]. She was so cute, she was overweight and her cheeks would look all chubby and she'd point her fingers up in the air. It was inspired by her."

In another post, Polly performed another original song in another assisted living home, encouraging everyone to dance through their aches and pains with more funny lyrics. "You got aches, you got pains, da da da da da da. So groove with your cane, da da da da da da da." And viewers noted that her performance was "100x better than Coachella" and "Next stop…Coachella."

Another bop she created is called "Shake It Doll", and it's a banger that has consistently put smiles on faces when she performs it. During a recent show, she told the crowd, "Let's get wild up in here, you know? We only live once. Let's do it!" she said as the song started. "Shake it doll, shake it at the mall! Shake it doll in the bathroom stall!" The beat is irresistible, and in the video Polly dances alongside an enthusiastic woman.

"It makes me really happy to see the residents really enjoy it. A lot of times they will first refuse to dance and enjoy. But when I get a man or woman who doesn't [initially] want to dance to suddenly get up and move, it means so much to me," says Polly.

She has big plans for the future and reaching more residents in nursing and assisted living homes. "I would love to do a nursing home tour around the United States. I have a lot of big visions for it," she says. "It really warms my heart a lot seeing how many people around the world tell me how much I'm making their day and giving joy to them. It means so much to me to see people have laughter. That's what life's about."

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This a capella version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' will knock your socks off

Yebba Smith/Instagram

Simon & Garfunkel's song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been covered by more than 50 different musical artists, from Aretha Franklin to Elvis Presley to Willie Nelson. It's a timeless classic that taps into the universal struggle of feeling down and the comfort of having someone to lift us up. It's beloved for its soothing melody and cathartic lyrics, and after a year of pandemic challenges, it's perhaps more poignant now than ever.

A few years a go, American singer-songwriter Yebba Smith shared a solo a capella version of a part of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," in which she just casually sits and sings it on a bed. It's an impressive rendition on its own, highlighting Yebba's soulful, effortless voice.

But British singer Jacob Collier recently added his own layered harmony tracks to it, taking the performance to a whole other level.

Be ready, because PHEW.

If you're unfamiliar with either of both these singers, here's a little background.

Yebba is a singer-songwriter from West Memphis, Arkansas who has collaborated with various artists including Chance the Rapper, Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, and Sam Smith. She's released a few singles of her own over the past few years, and in 2019 won a Grammy alongside PJ Morton for Best Traditional R&B Performance with the song "How Deep Is Your Love."

"Yebba" is her stage name—a backwards play on her real name, Abbey Smith.

Her debut single, "My Mind" was written and performed shortly before her mom died of suicide in 2016. After that, the lyrics of the song took on a whole new significance. The powerful performance of the piece at SoFar NYC shows off Yebba's vocal range as well as her emotive style of singing.

YEBBA - My Mind | Sofar NYCwww.youtube.com

Jacob Collier, on the other hand, is a British musician who rose to fame through split-screen self-harmonizing videos he shared online. In 2012, his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing" went viral on YouTube, and Collier was subsequently signed by Quincy Jones' record label. He has since been nominated for seven Grammy awards and won five of them. He's the first British artist to win a Grammy for each of his first four albums.

Collier—who has been referred to as "a musical force of nature" can play a wide range of musical instruments and often serves as his own one-man band. But his NPR Tiny Desk Concert with back-up vocals and instrumentalists is a delight. (It gets particularly fun at the 12:30 mark.)

Jacob Collier: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concertwww.youtube.com

Two impressive musical artists casually pulling together a soul-stirring performance of a much-beloved classic like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is just the kind of entertainment we need after a year of collective trauma and hardship. Music is healing, creativity is healing, human connection is healing, and all three of those things came together beautifully in this brief video. (Anyone else wishing it didn't cut off? I don't think there's a longer version anywhere, since Yebba's original solo version wasn't a complete video either. I think it's time to demand a full recorded version, please and thank you.)

Yebba pretty much summed up here how we're all feeling after watching them sing:

You can find more of Yebba's music here and Jacob Collier's music here.

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'Fight Song' singer Rachel Platten designed a stylish new pin for a great cause.

'I've been learning lately that the voice in my head that makes me feel small, unworthy, and not good enough, is such a small piece of who I truly am.'

It's been nearly two and a half years since singer-songwriter Rachel Platten released "Fight Song," the near-inescapable empowerment anthem. The video for the hit single has been viewed on YouTube more than 291 million times and has sold more than 2 million copies.

Platten's song about finding the strength to try to make it in the music industry has inspired countless people around the world, taking on a life of its own. For some fans, the song has brought comfort in memory of a lost loved one; for others, it's been a catchall boost for getting through a tough time in life.

"Each story reminds me how powerful words can be, and keeps me going," Platten writes in an email, of the song's fans.

"I have loved having the chance to hear so many stories and learn of all the different ways that people across the world have made 'Fight Song' their own," she says. "Every story is just as important as the next."

Platten performing in 2016. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Crate and Barrel.

Platten recently teamed up with fashion brand Wildfang and nonprofit empowerment group I Am That Girl for the second edition of the "You Got This" inspirational pin collection.

The goal of "You Got This" is to inspire confidence in women and girls everywhere. The world can be a pretty rough place at times, and we can all use a bit of a reminder that there's a lot of power within each of us.

Why not wear it on your sleeve — literally?

The 2017 pin collection. Image courtesy of Wildfang.

Platten designed one of the pins ("Love Yo'self") in this year's collection. Other celebrity designers included Jackie Cruz from "Orange Is the New Black," soccer champion Megan Rapinoe, Bethany Consentino of Best Coast, and others.

For Platten, her pin's design is meant to acknowledge that, while the standards of perfection women are expected to meet are unrealistic, we're all perfectly imperfect in our own way.

Finding peace and confidence hasn't been easy for Platten. It's been a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

"I've been learning lately that the voice in my head that makes me feel small, unworthy, and not good enough, is such a small piece of who I truly am," she says. "I'm learning to not buy into that and to open my arms wide to the world and ask to surrender that small voice in place of the bigger, kinder, wiser, stronger voice who whispers 'You can TOO do this Rachel.'"

"Once I get back in alignment and remember who I truly am, and what I am capable of, the impossible all of a sudden seems possible again. I'd like every young woman to remember this."

The "You Got This" collection launches Aug. 3, and can be picked up at Wildfang's website. 10% of all proceeds go directly to I Am That Girl, a group aimed at empowering women and girls with a message of confidence, love, and self-acceptance.

Family

Linkin Park's touching tribute to Chester Bennington reminds us why he matters.

It was about so much more than just music.

Four days after Linkin Park's Chester Bennington died by suicide, his bandmates posted a powerful tribute to the late singer.

"Our hearts are broken," the letter begins. "The shockwaves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we come to grips with what has happened."

The band goes on to talk about how many lives Bennington touched during his life and the powerfully emotional reaction from fans to his death.

Dear Chester,Our hearts are broken. The shockwaves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we...

Posted by Linkin Park on Monday, July 24, 2017

It's the band's frank words about mental illness and Bennington's role in destigmatizing it that really stand out.

Describing him as "a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice," they touch on the duality of mental illness and suicidal ideation. Someone can seem, on the surface, to have it all together — but underneath, things can be much different.

"We’re trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display, and in doing so, brought us together and taught us to be more human. You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve."

From the band's first record to its most recent, Bennington sang openly and proudly about some of the struggles he's had — both his mental state and with substance abuse. He was human, and by writing and singing lyrics about what was going on in his life, he reminded fans that it's OK to be human too.

Mental illness is extremely common and appears in many forms.

Roughly 18% of adults in the U.S. will experience some form of mental illness each year. Even so, mental illness is still extremely stigmatized, meaning that a lot of people won't seek the help they need out of shame.

If there's one thing we can all learn from Bennington's death, it's that we shouldn't be afraid to talk about these issues — with each other or with mental health professionals.

Bennington during a May 2017 concert. Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for CBS Radio Inc.

If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255.

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