Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T12:27:12.753Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Women Work It On Out: An Intergenerational Encounter through Dance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2013

Abstract

In “Dance Narratives and Fantasies” Angela Mc Robbie writes that for generations of women dance has represented “an arena for self expression … away from the difficulties of everyday life. … a symbolic escape route from the more normative expectations of young women.” “I dance because it … makes me feel free,” writes Ms Mae, one of twenty seniors who participated in Work It On Out, a community dance project that brought elders together with dance majors at Northwest Vista College. Sharing dances and stories about dance, we would form a unique intergenerational community to celebrate a woman's ongoing love affair with dance. Though dance is not something that old and young typically share, the exuberance in the simple acts of moving together created instant rapport. With Aretha crooning “freedom …” in the background, looking good and shaking our shoulders and hips was a “fem-positive” message of grace, dignity, and strength over circumstance, signified by the freedom of the body.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Works Cited

Goler, Veta. 2002. “Living with the Doors Open: An Interview with Blondell Cummings.” APINews, no. 38. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from <http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/living_with_the_1.php>..>Google Scholar
Larson, Renya. 2005. “Dance and Older People: An Interview with Catherine Baumgartner.” APINews, no. 75. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from <http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2005/10/dance_and_older.php>..>Google Scholar
Lerman, Liz. 2002. “Dancing in Community: Its Roots in Art.” APINews, no. 38. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from <http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/09/dancing_in_comm.php>..>Google Scholar
McRobbie, Angela. 1997. “Dance Narratives and Fanstasies of Achievement.” In Meaning In Motion, edited by Desmond, Jane C., 207–31. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perlstein, Susan. 2002. “Arts and Creative Aging Across America.” APINews, no. 39. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from <http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archivefiles/2002/10/arts_and_creati.php>..>Google Scholar
Pimsler, Stuart. 2002 “Toward a New Folk Dance: Caregivers and Other Partners.” APINews, no. 38. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from <http://www.communityarts.net/readingroom/archiveriles/2002/09/toward_a_new_fo_l.php>..>Google Scholar