The Wise Body

Book excerpt: In The Wise Body: Conversations with Experienced Dancers, UK choreographers Jacky Lansley and Fergus Early interview twelve distinguished dancers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines who continue to enjoy exceptionally long performing careers. They discuss early training, memorable performing experiences, the things that sustain them, and the pleasures and challenges of being ‘older’ dancers in a profession in which youth is often idolized. The contributors include Philippe Priasso, Lisa Nelson, La Tati, Julyen Hamilton, Yoshito Ohno, Steve Paxton, Will Gaines, Jane Dudley, Pauline de Groot, and Bisakha Sarker. Taken as a whole, the interviews, with their long and international perspective, invite a radical reappraisal of the development of modern and postmodern dance and their varied cultural starting points give rise to serious questions about the meaning of dance as an art form.