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Dancing forever: dancers share a lifetime of wisdom on how to keep performing.

Article Excerpt
Margot Fonteyn danced to 60. Rudolph Nureyev into his 50s. Martha Graham retired from the stage at 75. More recently, in 1999 to be exact, Mikhail Baryshnikov, then 50, and Merce Cunningham, then 80, performed together at the Lincoln Center Festival.

The rock stars of the dance world may be justified in their long career spans, but they are far from mere anomalies. While their sheer fame may have catapulted them into longevity, dancing far past the dancer's supposed prime, a number of dancers across disciplines are continuing to dance and perform into their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond.

Dance and youth are obvious partners. A supple body and nimble mind are required for a profession that demands stamina, strength, and memory. But dancing also requires emotional and artistic maturity, qualities that develop as one ages. And there lies the bittersweet paradox of the dancer's profession: Just as one reaches a seasoned artistry, one's physical prowess begins to fade.

Despite this contradiction, several solo performers and companies have begun to prove that this paradox need not end a dance career. Until recently, the Nederlands Dans Theater included NDT III, an over-40 group of professional dancers. The New York-based Paradigm Dance Project, Massachusetts-based Prometheus Elders Ensemble, and Maryland-based Liz Lerman Dance Exchange are some examples of opportunities for older dancers. If we live in a culture where 60 is the new 40 and 70 the new 50, then young dancers on the cusp of their professional careers today can anticipate a lifetime's worth of dancing, so long as they are prepared for several metamorphoses.

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"Dance exists in all kinds of forms and realities," says Diane Arvanites-Noya, 49, artistic director with Tommy Neblett of Prometheus Dance and the Elders Ensemble. "When...

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