sonia york-pryce

Research Question: 

Why are there so few dance companies for older professional dancers?

How can ageism in western dance culture be changed?

How can the representation of the older dancer be rewritten from discussions surrounding health and wellbeing that overshadow their professional expertise?

 Abstract:  
             
Ageism within Western society was first signposted by gerontologist Robert Butler in 1969, and such discrimination and devaluation permeates Western dance culture, a youth-dominated artform that holds dance-by-date (Edward and Newell 15), expectations of professional dancers. This body-centric artform insists on a valued youthful aesthetic—“the way it looks is what matters” (Siegel 228)—leaving little allowance for dancers over 40 to be accepted to continue, or to be offered opportunities to perform. Due to the negative stereotyping of the ‘ageing body’, the older professional dancer—whose embodied artistry is cultivated through their lived experience of dance—finds themselves sandwiched between the culturally accepted young, virtuosic, and physically idealised professional and the elderly amateur community dancer; hence, the older professional dancer remains an enigma. However, some dance companies have taken ‘dance and ageing’ as their banner, enabling these performers to continue in works specifically created to highlight their unique artistry. These dancers defy ageism by disrupting the myth of “what they can do” (Berson 165). Nederlands Dans Theater 3 (1991–2006), Australian Dance Artists (est. 1995) and Germany’s Dance On Ensemble (est. 2015) are three key examples. Despite the fact that “more than any other medium, dance can seem to neglect and even abhor the aging body” (Berson 165), these companies are driving change by revealing that ageing bodies can be positively represented on our stages, as well as being representatives of an often invisible and disrespected demographic within Western society. My PhD project sets out to reveal how these three companies have addressed ageism within the Western culture of dance and created a culture of respect for the older professional dancer.