The joy and beauty of dancing: An exploratory study of the social and corporeal aspects of dancing among older people
This project focuses on the social and corporeal aspects of older people dancing. Besides music and singing, dance is one of the most popular activities in senior culture. Previous research has shown that dancing is beneficial to older people's health and wellbeing. Dancing, however, involves so much more than a health perspective. The social and cultural aspects of older people's dance have received very little attention in research. This lack of knowledge means that central aspects of older people's everyday life are neglected. The aim of the study is twofold: (1) identifying the social dimensions of dancing, and (2) exploring the processes in which ageing, corporeality and social aspects are interwoven. We draw on the sociology of emotions, theories of intimacy and everyday aesthetics, for example, while developing our own research on age and ageing. Three dancing contexts are studied: (1) "Leisure dancing" in public dance establishments, (2) "Society dancing" organised by a pensioners' society, and (3) "Exercise dancing" in fitness centres where dance activities are organised for health purposes. Data collection consists mainly of observations and interviews. The project is expected to yield new knowledge of older people's dance as a social phenomenon and of the ageing body. By questioning narrow portrayals of older people dancing, the project also challenges ageism, for example, the notions that older people are less intimacy-inclined.
Final report
Project aim, development and implementation
The aim of the project was to clarify social and bodily aspects of elderly dance. Data collection was made in three dance contexts: pleasure dance, society/association dance, and exercise/fitness dance.
The study is based on qualitative data, primarily interviews and observations, and also some analysis of websites and newspaper articles. In total, 44 interviews were conducted across fourteen dance contexts. The interviewees comprised eleven organisers (seven women and four men) and 33 dancers (25 women and eight men). Average age among the interviewed organisers was 68 (the oldest 79 and the youngest 45), and among the dancers 72 (the oldest 81 and the youngest 52). The project members participated in the dancing during observations, which added deeper insights into and understanding of dancing as an activity and its various dimensions. An annual meeting was arranged with the reference group, which represents theoretical as well as practical competence in the dance area. The reference group has suggested themes and analyses for the various project articles and has inspired members to address research issues in new ways.
Three principal project results and contribution to current international research
The project focused on the relation between ageing, corporeality and social aspects. Two central issues in this respect involved the social meanings of dance practice for the elderly and how the ageing body is perceived and used when social relationships, and meanings are created, handled and negotiated. An important result is that time and temporality shape the social meanings of dancing and perception of the ageing body. Krekula (accepted) points to how pleasurable experiences in dancing can be understood as three distinct temporalities: embodied experience of an extended present, interaction between synchronised subjectivities, and a sense of uninterrupted time. Through the focus on time and temporality, the article shows that pleasure is created in the dance as a physical activity as well as in the context of the dance. The context involves the experience of dance as more permissive and perceived as expanding the boundaries of what the elderly can do. The result highlight how individuals in the dance perceive their subjectivity and surrounding through what can best be described as a temporal corporeality.
A second important project result concerns the social emotions manifested in elderly couple dancing. The result shows that both positive and negative emotions are expressed in partner dancing (Alfredsson-Olsson & Heikkinen, 2019; Heikkinen & Alfredsson-Olsson, in press). This contributes to the field of elderly dance by showing that in partner dancing, generally characterised by positive emotional energy, the negative emotional energy generated (through anger, for example) can, when adversity is overcome, add extra energy to bounce back and reinforce the positive emotions. The result on the will to continue dancing despite difficulties has also been presented in relation to leisure research, thus also adding to the field of leisure studies.
A third central result concerns issues on significant differences between various dance contexts, but extends beyond by drawing attention to the organising of elderly dance (Krekula et al. 2017). Previous studies of elderly dance have largely ignored the organisation of dance. Our critical analysis of power relations through an organising perspective revealed that social discourses on healthism and active ageing shape the organising of elderly dance by emphasising its health benefits for the elderly. Results further illustrate that organising dance rests on the perception of the elderly as a strong consumer group. In addition, results show that organising dance events involve many non-profit activities indicating that elderly dance should be seen in the broader context of non-profit operations. Finally, the organising of elderly dance makes visible the power relations between age groups, showing that dance targeting the elderly is allotted less attractive time slots than those targeting younger people. The project thus contributes new analytical concepts to research on age and power.
New research issues generated through the project
The results show that the pleasure of dancing is linked to the activity as such as well as to the specific context of more tolerant age norms that dance offers. While the former has been the focus of research, knowledge of the latter has been limited, which means that more research is needed regarding the context of dance. Since the project's result on emotional energies is based on partner dancing, future research needs to identify how emotions and emotional energies are evoked in other types of elderly dance. The finding of the study that elderly dance creates new social and gendered practices, for example, new codes for asking someone to dance (Arvidson & Krekula, submitted), indicates the need of studying several aspects of how new norms regarding gender and age affect the elderly's experience of dancing. A specific issue, raised on the basis of the collected material, suggests, on the one hand, that experiences of social positions (such as age) are transgressed through an 'extended now', and, on the other, underlines differences in the meanings of dance in terms of gender. When and in what context are various social positions attributed meaning in the dance and when are they insignificance?
Project international dimensions
The project has been developed into international partnerships in relation to three of the areas dealt with in the project, namely critical age studies, gendered embodied ageing, and leisure studies. The first area refers to results relating to age norms and power aspects based on age, (e.g. age groups' access to time slots for dance arrangements, see Krekula el al., 2017, Arvidson & Krekula, submitted). This study has led to cooperation with European age researchers and Krekula has been invited to lecture on European doctoral studies courses, and a special issue is planned for an international journal. Cooperation has also been established with internationally leading researchers in the area of gendered aspects of embodied ageing (see Krekula & Hurd, forthcoming). This cooperation involves joint articles based on project data, and discussions are ongoing about an international publication. Research cooperation on leisure is evident in a chapter in a forthcoming anthology on positive sociology (Heikkinen & Alfredsson-Olsson, in press).
Dissemination of results to other researchers and groups outside of academia
A project website was set up for presenting the project, making articles available and publishing guest pieces. Parts of the results have also been communicated in the Swedish research network on age, AgeS. In addition, a book project is in progress in conjunction with members of the reference group at GIH.
The aim of the project was to clarify social and bodily aspects of elderly dance. Data collection was made in three dance contexts: pleasure dance, society/association dance, and exercise/fitness dance.
The study is based on qualitative data, primarily interviews and observations, and also some analysis of websites and newspaper articles. In total, 44 interviews were conducted across fourteen dance contexts. The interviewees comprised eleven organisers (seven women and four men) and 33 dancers (25 women and eight men). Average age among the interviewed organisers was 68 (the oldest 79 and the youngest 45), and among the dancers 72 (the oldest 81 and the youngest 52). The project members participated in the dancing during observations, which added deeper insights into and understanding of dancing as an activity and its various dimensions. An annual meeting was arranged with the reference group, which represents theoretical as well as practical competence in the dance area. The reference group has suggested themes and analyses for the various project articles and has inspired members to address research issues in new ways.
Three principal project results and contribution to current international research
The project focused on the relation between ageing, corporeality and social aspects. Two central issues in this respect involved the social meanings of dance practice for the elderly and how the ageing body is perceived and used when social relationships, and meanings are created, handled and negotiated. An important result is that time and temporality shape the social meanings of dancing and perception of the ageing body. Krekula (accepted) points to how pleasurable experiences in dancing can be understood as three distinct temporalities: embodied experience of an extended present, interaction between synchronised subjectivities, and a sense of uninterrupted time. Through the focus on time and temporality, the article shows that pleasure is created in the dance as a physical activity as well as in the context of the dance. The context involves the experience of dance as more permissive and perceived as expanding the boundaries of what the elderly can do. The result highlight how individuals in the dance perceive their subjectivity and surrounding through what can best be described as a temporal corporeality.
A second important project result concerns the social emotions manifested in elderly couple dancing. The result shows that both positive and negative emotions are expressed in partner dancing (Alfredsson-Olsson & Heikkinen, 2019; Heikkinen & Alfredsson-Olsson, in press). This contributes to the field of elderly dance by showing that in partner dancing, generally characterised by positive emotional energy, the negative emotional energy generated (through anger, for example) can, when adversity is overcome, add extra energy to bounce back and reinforce the positive emotions. The result on the will to continue dancing despite difficulties has also been presented in relation to leisure research, thus also adding to the field of leisure studies.
A third central result concerns issues on significant differences between various dance contexts, but extends beyond by drawing attention to the organising of elderly dance (Krekula et al. 2017). Previous studies of elderly dance have largely ignored the organisation of dance. Our critical analysis of power relations through an organising perspective revealed that social discourses on healthism and active ageing shape the organising of elderly dance by emphasising its health benefits for the elderly. Results further illustrate that organising dance rests on the perception of the elderly as a strong consumer group. In addition, results show that organising dance events involve many non-profit activities indicating that elderly dance should be seen in the broader context of non-profit operations. Finally, the organising of elderly dance makes visible the power relations between age groups, showing that dance targeting the elderly is allotted less attractive time slots than those targeting younger people. The project thus contributes new analytical concepts to research on age and power.
New research issues generated through the project
The results show that the pleasure of dancing is linked to the activity as such as well as to the specific context of more tolerant age norms that dance offers. While the former has been the focus of research, knowledge of the latter has been limited, which means that more research is needed regarding the context of dance. Since the project's result on emotional energies is based on partner dancing, future research needs to identify how emotions and emotional energies are evoked in other types of elderly dance. The finding of the study that elderly dance creates new social and gendered practices, for example, new codes for asking someone to dance (Arvidson & Krekula, submitted), indicates the need of studying several aspects of how new norms regarding gender and age affect the elderly's experience of dancing. A specific issue, raised on the basis of the collected material, suggests, on the one hand, that experiences of social positions (such as age) are transgressed through an 'extended now', and, on the other, underlines differences in the meanings of dance in terms of gender. When and in what context are various social positions attributed meaning in the dance and when are they insignificance?
Project international dimensions
The project has been developed into international partnerships in relation to three of the areas dealt with in the project, namely critical age studies, gendered embodied ageing, and leisure studies. The first area refers to results relating to age norms and power aspects based on age, (e.g. age groups' access to time slots for dance arrangements, see Krekula el al., 2017, Arvidson & Krekula, submitted). This study has led to cooperation with European age researchers and Krekula has been invited to lecture on European doctoral studies courses, and a special issue is planned for an international journal. Cooperation has also been established with internationally leading researchers in the area of gendered aspects of embodied ageing (see Krekula & Hurd, forthcoming). This cooperation involves joint articles based on project data, and discussions are ongoing about an international publication. Research cooperation on leisure is evident in a chapter in a forthcoming anthology on positive sociology (Heikkinen & Alfredsson-Olsson, in press).
Dissemination of results to other researchers and groups outside of academia
A project website was set up for presenting the project, making articles available and publishing guest pieces. Parts of the results have also been communicated in the Swedish research network on age, AgeS. In addition, a book project is in progress in conjunction with members of the reference group at GIH.