De-aging Dancerism? The aging body in contemporary and community dance

Abstract

Simple walking became dance when the Judson Dance Theater questioned established theatrical conventions in the 1960s. These artists attempted to establish an outlook on dance that did not differentiate between a dancer's body and an ordinary body. However, they introduced the issue of audience participation in the field of dance without questioning their culturally accepted young, able bodies. Another form of participation in dance is the cultural activities of Community Dance, a form established in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, which is open to the elderly. In contrast to the UK Community Dance, where the audience started to dance themselves, the Community Dance movement in the United States is due to the interest of particular artists, such as Anna Halprin, working with the audience, who are members of various communities. While the negative prejudice towards aging exists in dance markets, the question remains: If seniors dance, is this cultural movement but never raised to the status of “art”? The situation of dance in Japan with the presence of professional aging dancers allows us to question the established dance techniques and structures of young professional dancers and old amateurs in Western Community Dance. Aging depicts the aesthetics of Japanese dance and synchronizes the form with alternative forms of dancing. In the case of Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno, who achieved global success at 74, the issue of aging runs parallel with dancing. Instead of being disciplined by Modern Dance, Ohno improvises and creates the spontaneous living moments, thereby being liberated from institutionalized dance technique. The philosophy of life within craftsmanship aestheticizes the aging during Ohno's lifetime of dancing. The example of Ohno's aging blurs the boundary between professionalism and amateurism, as well as that between dance art and Community Dance, which are based on the cultural expectation of ‘dancerism’ in youth-oriented dance culture.