Dance Weaves it’s Way Through All Our Lives

By Chris Morgan

Unwanted Change

Redundant at the tender age of 48, I had no idea just what a major role dance would play in my life. My efforts to find alternative employment hit the brick wall of ageism. I was determined to challenge this social injustice and shout it from the rooftops!

I took up voluntary work with older people, which involved me in many different projects, including as an advocate with Age Concern and a fitness instructor, which I found most fulfilling. My experience taught me a valuable lesson: you cannot lump all old people under one banner. Every person is a reservoir of experience, knowledge, wisdom, expertise, memories and intuition.

A World of Dance

Major heart surgery, followed by two hip replacements, abruptly terminated my teaching career as a fitness instructor. After recovering, I was sitting in the Age Concern office when a colleague showed me an article in Saga magazine about a contemporary dance group of over-60s based at Sadler's Wells. They were looking for more men; wow! What a way to demonstrate to the world what we oldies are capable of! – Performing Arts, the oldest form of communication. I joined immediately and also took singing, drama, piano, and public speaking lessons.

Company of Elders

Established in 1989 as an arts appreciation group, the company was the idea of a group of over-60s ladies who met once a week in the cafe. The sight of young dancers floating through reignited their joy of dance. They approached the management; would it be possible for visiting choreographers to run workshops? Flat refusal; they are far too busy, not interested, and anyway, much too expensive! One determined lady, Sheila, approached Rambert directly and spoke to their choreographer. To her surprise, the choreographer said she would be delighted to provide her services free of charge.

The dance group was born; these ladies wanted more from life than weekly visits to the bingo hall or sitting on a park bench! They longed to challenge themselves and push back the boundaries. The group thrived, from workshops to performances at the Lilian Baylis Theatre.

Visiting companies who have worked with the company include: Rambert, Royal Ballet, NYCity Ballet, Condoco, Lisbon Ballet Company and Richard Alston.

Choreographers who have worked with the company include: Rosemary Lee, Royston Maldoom, Chris Tudor, Wayne McGregor, Clara Andermatt and Phillipa Donnellar.

Dance genres the company has tried include ballet, jazz, Bollywood, Charleston, tap, hip-hop, flamenco, and lindy hop.

We loved them all and couldn’t do any of them properly, but sure had fun!

We constantly made mistakes; bumped into each other, went the wrong direction, forgot the next move! But these were dynamite; we shared it with the audience, laughed it off and they loved it!

As our popularity grew, so did our performances around London and abroad, including Austria, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Germany.

At first, the choreographers had misgivings but could not resist the challenge. Their comments:

• Completely different to young dancers
• Creative, artistic, and a great sense of freedom
• Highly motivated, endless patience, passionate and inspirational
• We can tap into their life experiences and emotions

What did we think:

• We considered ourselves role models and trailblazers
• As soon as we stepped on stage, we swept away those outdated stereotypes
• We lost our inhibitions and became glamorous, vivacious, provocative, and daring

Our philosophy:

• We worked as a team with a shared goal: the performance, audience reaction, and socialising afterwards
• We were a close-knit group, the camaraderie, our shared passion for music and movement

The many benefits of dance are comprehensively described by Angela Rippon in her 'Let's Dance' campaign; our continuous desire motivates others to slip on their dancing shoes.

Why let the wrinkles cover up the sparkle?

When Sadler's Wells imposed an upper age limit, and Covid hit, I reluctantly hung up my dancing shoes!

Dance weaves it’s way through all our lives!