Holly Chin’s journey with the performing arts in Natick began about a decade ago. She ran a vocal studio in those days, and oversaw her group the “State of Mind Performers.”

Her students ranged from elementary, middle and high school students.

Then came the Covid pandemic, and the hurdles it presented to in person teaching and activities like Chin’s.

Stoic philosophy counsels that obstacles can be reframed as opportunities. “The impediment to action advances action,” wrote Marcus Aurelius, the most famous stoic. “What stands in the way becomes the way.”

During the challenges of the shutdown, Chin said participation in her program only became more robust. The adoption of Zoom meetings helped make social connection still possible, and those relationships became all the more essential in a world of in-person restrictions.

“It just grew over the years,” said Chin.

With the program’s popularity came suggestions from parents that Chin expand her offerings, and bring them under the umbrella of a new nonprofit organization. 

Thus was born the Natick Academy for the Performing Arts. NAPA offers programs in music, dance, musical theatre, voice coaching, improv and acting.

“I saw that there was a need for more stuff in this area,” said Chin.

But fulfilling that need created another: finding a reliable and suitable space to host her performers. 

On a visit to Whitney Place, Chin felt she had stumbled on a possible solution.

The assisted-living space has been a longtime fixture in the town, overlooking a stretch of Route 9 from its westbound-side location.

“I was like, I want it. There’s a lot of promise here. Unless you have a home, an auditorium to do these things, you’re always looking for a place.”

Whitney Place has proved a boon both for its residents and for the visiting performers.

Chin’s students have found a reliable and welcome venue to practice and perform. And residents of the assisted-living space serve sometimes as audience and actors themselves. 

Being in the facility, said Chin, brought the theater to the senior residents.

“It’s not easy for them,” said Chin of their new Whitney Place neighbors. Many seniors in such facilities seldom have visitors, and are practically cut off from the world outside those walls.

“They come and they watch and they observe,” said Chin of the seniors. That led to a production of “Guys and Dolls” starring Whitney Place residents, in addition to the production of the play put on by middle school students.

Whitney Place has become a testament to the power of place. As host to the Natick Academy of Performing Arts, it serves as that rare bridge between generations, an intersection where people of vastly different lifespans and experiences interact and learn from one another. 

It’s a bridge built from the universal planks of the performing arts.

“It’s really special for the kids to get that kind of exposure,” said Chin. The senior residents of Whitney Place, she added, are feisty and hilarious, and welcome the energy that the younger crowd brings.

A club for performing seniors has been slated for the fall season, and a joint performance has been planned in which middle school students will sing with the seniors. 

“I think it would be so special for them,” said Chin. “It’s going to be pretty cool.”