Abstract
Despite the emphasis on youth in dance, the profile of elderly dancers has grown steadily through community dance practice. However, opportunities for professional dance artists to sustain performance practice over time and to create repertoire appropriate - and for audiences to engage with their work - are still rare. ... “of all the oppressions, the one that hits dance hardest is ageism and it is the last to be explicitly addressed. "Jacky Lansley and Fergus Early in The Wise Body (2011) Our work has involved developing the choreography and musical composition through sharing practices and in collaboration. We have had feedback from choreographer Liz Aggiss and from intergenerational audiences on work in progress of Late Work in Oxford and on Dancing the Invisible from Woking Dance Festival’s Young Ambassadors. The work builds on my research with Ann Dickie’s company From Here to Maturity at the South Bank Centre, London in 2010 and the histories of collaborative partnerships, improvisation and practices of the artists. Each of the dancers has chosen to continue to research their own dance practice in different ways and each has had substantial experience of ballet as a body and performance practice. As an older dance practitioner I observe profound shifts in the balance between the athletic and artistic dimensions of my practice as I age. I am interested in how this plays out in choreography - how dance might challenge the aesthetics of established dance performance and how ballet which is closely associated with youthful beauty and as a means of achieving athletic virtuosity rather than creative exploration offers a further provocation. The dialogue that is mobilized between these elements provides the territory for our artistic exploration. Each participant has brought their own questions, artistic and conceptual contribution to the research and to shaping the event. I am deeply grateful for their engagement, generosity, knowledge and expertise. So … Does the dancing stop as the body ages? Clearly I think that not … and it is a pleasure to share ways in which for us as ageing people the dance and music continues to provoke and promote life, well-being, communication and community. Programme Late work Concept and direction: Jennifer Jackson Choreography and Music developed in collaboration by the performers Lighting: David Hockham Costume Design: Malcolm McInnes Performers – Malcolm Atkins, Susie Crow, Jennifer Jackson, Andrew Melvin At the heart of Late work are questions about how the individual artist is in dialogue with her or his own body and ‘instrument’ and the body of (shared) disciplinary knowledge – and how improvisation practices and collaboration might give artistic shape to this dialogue. Each of the six parts has a different focus. Signature Sleeping Beauties Pulse Fragmentation Haiku Melody and Rhythm This performance as research project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England'and University of Surrey School of Arts and Pump Priming funds.