Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company

Abstract

This article explores the work of the Moving Memory Dance Theatre Company from its inception, to its most recent production Beyond the Marigolds. The company is an all-female ensemble made up of older women whose ages range from 56 to 86 years. It was co-founded in 2010 by University of Kent lecturers and theatre practitioners, Sian Stevenson and Jayne Thompson. The aim then, and now, is to challenge perceptions of the older woman by creating work for conventional theatre stages and public spaces which privileges the ageing female body in performance. In the nine years since its foundation two key features have emerged in the company’s creative approach and performance aesthetic. The first of these is the use of digital technology and projection which has progressively become embedded in the company’s practice, rehearsal and performance, leading to the development of Doris, an interactive technology tool used in the training and outreach programme. The second is the importance of site within the company’s work. Drawing on accounts from the women in the company, the article explores the pop-up performances in public spaces and focusses in particular on their 2017 Gestures of Defiance intervention on the streets of Paris and the impact on the performers sense of self as older women ‘ … we are coming, we are mature women and look out’.

Notes

1 It was in this first production that we discovered the joy of working with site, and the relationship that occurs between performer and audience in non-conventional performance space. A more detailed account of this first project can be found in Jayne Thompson’s chapter ‘Moving memory’ and Nicola Shaughnessy’s chapter ‘Dancing with difference: Moving towards new aesthetics’.

2 Footage is available on the Moving Memory website – www.movingmemorydance.com

3 Company of Elders was established in 1989 and is the ‘resident over-60s’ dance group based at Sadler’s Well in Islington, North London. (www.sadlerswells.com)

4 Green Candle Dance Company is based in Bethnal Green, London. Their commitment to delivering dance in the community includes dance workshops and projects to encourage active ageing and well-being in older participants of all abilities. (www.greencandledance.com)

5 Footage is available on the Moving Memory website – www.movingmemorydance.com

6 ‘(B)Old’ is a new festival supported by The Baring Foundation, which took place at the Southbank Centre in London from 14 to 20 May 2018. More information can be found on the past events page at www.southbankcentre.co.uk and footage of the MMDTC pop-up performance Cracking Southbank on their website.