The Time I Spend Within Myself: Relationships Between Perception and Attention in Dance Improvisation

Abstract

This article presents reflections on the study of dance composition undertaken by Adults 50+ from the Dance Group of the University for Older Adults. It aims to discuss the significance of refining perception and attention in the development of participants’ self-educational and compositional experiences. The central argument is that processes of creation and composition in dance, within their operative context, encompass possibilities for the construction of knowledge that transcend the mere production of dances; moreover, to create and to dance necessarily entails establishing relations with the surrounding environment, such that the capacities for knowing and relating to something or someone are constituted through lived experience. Furthermore, it is argued that artistic practices that bring the theme of aging onto the stage may serve as avenues for expanding the possibilities of discussion, dissemination of information, and deepened understanding of the aging process.