‘Memory in two voices:’ an aesthetics of care in performance groups for older adults

ABSTRACT

This short essay uses James Thompson’s aesthetics of care to examine ‘Memory in Two Voices’, a multi-vocal poetry performance about dementia by long-time lesbian partners Chris Morrissey and Bridget Coll. Noting how Chris and Bridget’s years-long tenure in the Queer Imaging and Riting Kollective for Elders, an arts and performance group based in Vancouver, Canada, gave the women the emotional and artistic resources to respond to Bridget’s dementia diagnosis, I suggest that an aesthetics of care can be beneficial in long-term arts and performance groups for seniors and older adults.

KEYWORDS:

• Aesthetics of care
• queer performance
• dementia
• applied theatre
• seniors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Kelsey Blair is a PhD Candidate at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. She is also an author and an applied theatre artist.