Yorkshire Dance’s Ageless festival is back! From 12-13 July this two day festival in Leeds City Centre features an eclectic mix of bold new performances, talks and workshops from critically acclaimed dance artists. Yorkshire Dance are passionate about making dance accessible for everyone. All festival events are Pay What You Can.
This third edition of Ageless Festival invites us to reimagine age through dance with performances and workshops from internationally renowned artists alongside performances by older dancers drawn from local communities in Leeds, Liverpool and Sheffield.
Headlining Ageless on Friday night is a double bill of new work. Mother by Susan Kempster is an intergenerational duet asking ‘how can the dynamic of a mature woman and a young man avoid the narrative of a mother and son?’ Lisa Kendall’s new work One Woman Wrestling Invites… explores 33 years in dance. Lisa is joined by dance pals Rachel and Leen as they navigate this critical impasse, wrestling with what was there and what is now, reflecting as they dance, upon the facts and fictions of living.
On Friday evening Celebrating Participation triple bill, unites and celebrates the creativity of older adults in the North with works created by community dance companies including Performance Ensemble from Leeds, Third Bite Dance from Sheffield and Liverpool’s Men!Dancing!
On Saturday Ageless hosts the final performance of 40/40 by Two Destination Language. 40/40 explores Katherina Radeva’s 40 years as a woman, a migrant and an artist. From the little girl dancing at her parents’ student parties, to the teenage rhythm gymnast who was body-shamed, to the creative who refuses to be categorised.
This is followed by Carl Harrison’s Apocalypse Wow! a cabaret game show for the end of the world. Hosted by punk drag alien Niche Lorraine and starring the audience as the contestants.
As well as performances, Ageless will feature dance workshops led by iconic older dance artists including a masterclass with Susan Kempster who teaches her signature partnering method. Funmi Adewole Elliott explores storytelling through African urban dances: Fuji, Juju and Afrobeats. And Christinne Thynne, who discovered dance late in life plays fast and loose with gravity – something you don’t want to miss.
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