Dickinson Studies Age and the Dance Artist

Barbara Dickinson continues her research on “age and the dance artist.” She argues that in the ballet and modern dance tradition, only few mature and aging artists continue an ongoing process of discovery, transition and transformation, a process that continues to build on their embodied wisdom. Such aging artists are fully immersed in their careers as creators, performers and teachers by constantly reinvestigating and reinterpreting new possibilities in dance. Along these lines, Barbara interviewed the Canadian artist Margie Gillis, an outstanding example of one of those artists who play such an important role in revealing to audiences the power of mature experience and artistry, and the possibilities of embodied wisdom to illuminate and serve many areas of life. Barbara researched Gillis’ archives and presented a paper “Transition and Transformation: the Art of Margie Gillis” at the 2013 Society of Dance History Scholars Conference in Trondheim, Norway. She plans to expand the paper into a journal length article.