Company of Elders: A tonic for body and soul
By Gerard Davis
Keeping active and sociable is vitally important to humans everywhere, including seniors, as the repeated lockdowns of the COVID pandemic have highlighted. In 2011, Bupa (the UK’s largest private healthcare provider) produced Shall We Dance?, a comprehensive report on the subject, which concluded that dance “can benefit both the physical health of older people and promote a sense of well-being and social inclusion.”
Twenty-two years before the Bupa report, Sadler’s Wells put themselves ahead of the curve by setting up an arts club for older people. This included arranging dance performances, which proved so successful that in 1992 a new company was formed: the Company of Elders. They’ve since performed all over the world and even the pandemic couldn’t stop them: online classes were held, and one class was organized in a park so members could meet up in person. With a limit of just over 20 participants and entry requirements that include a minimum age of 60, with no previous professional dance experience, they’re not your typical dance company.
In July 2021, a brand-new digital work — Relive — was created for them via Zoom by Eleesha Drennan, a Canadian-born, London-based choreographer. It’s a cleverly sequenced piece, showing the joyful influence the older generation has on those new to this world. The thoughtful, mostly upper-body movement brings out the distinct personalities of the 16 dancers without flinching away from the physical contrasts between young and old. Essentially, Relive highlights what the company is all about: intelligent, thought-provoking work performed by artists who consistently question and upend expectations.
When I spoke over the phone to 74-year-old company dancer Dahlia Douglas — a former secretary and teaching assistant — she told me of her excitement when she joined the company in 2018. “I grew up in a home where I saw my parents dance with each other,” she explained. “To me, dance is such a beautiful art form and I’ve always liked to express myself through music. I went to a Company of Elders workshop on the advice of a friend, after which I got a letter inviting me to another workshop at Sadler’s Wells. I didn’t realize it was an audition, but when I got a call not long after asking me to join the company, I was just shouting I was so happy!”
Douglas has a delightfully rich tone of voice and a contagious laugh. Her sunny outlook probably helps explain why she wasn’t fazed by her first live performance, at Sadler’s Wells in June 2019. “I felt so excited,” she said. “The company encouraged all of us and that gave me the confidence and desire to show what I know.”
In September, Company of Elders re-started weekly in-person workshops at Sadler’s Wells. “It had been nice seeing each other on Zoom,” says Douglas, “but it was even better to meet up because you get the vibe, the flow. You’re dancing with your partner right there in front of you and that connection is wonderful.”
The process of joining the group involves signing a contract for a certain number of years. “You have to attend weekly rehearsals, although the number of rehearsals increases close to a performance. Different choreographers give us set pieces to perform, and we have to move and bend to their vision. I’ve had amazing experiences with all of the choreographers so far; they’re caring, patient, and very respectful.”
Douglas particularly enjoys what’s known as the Culture Club. “That happens after our morning session has finished,” she explains. “We have different artists from different dance styles who we can learn from. We’ve had ballet, contemporary, and wheelchair dancers, and many more. Last week it was someone from The Rocky Horror Show – it was fantastic!” This ongoing resource is accessible to the public on YouTube.
On October 23, the company gave their first live show since the outbreak of the pandemic, in the opulent courtyard of London’s Somerset House. All Under the Same Moon is a contemporary piece by Ruby Portus, a recent graduate of the Sadler’s Wells Young Associates program, created to accompany the journey of Little Amal, a giant puppet of a Syrian refugee girl. The tour started in Istanbul in July and finished in Manchester on November 3. With a cast of 55 dancers, it was an inter-generational project that saw the Company of Elders perform alongside alumni of the UK’s National Youth Dance Company and 20 children from Sadler’s Wells associate schools. Douglas says she’s still on a high from the experience.
When I ask Douglas what she thinks an audience feels watching them perform, she says, “I hope they can see how much we’re enjoying doing something creative, that elders can reach out, have a go and push themselves. Maybe they’ll look at us and say, ‘I can do that too.’”
Douglas delights in the benefits dancing brings her. “It keeps the brain ticking over,” she says. “I’ve got to listen to the music, move my body, and remember specific steps and then practice them. When I get home I make notes and practice some more, so I can perfect the steps and be ready to go onstage. Yes, I have aches and yes, I have pains, but as an elder, my bones need to be flexible because falls are not good for us. The learning process and meeting up with the rest of the group helps to override the pain. For me, being in the Company of Elders is a tonic.”
