Generating Divergence: Ageing into the Unknown

Generating Divergence. Ageing into the Unknown

‘What is a burgeoning contemporary dance practice offered in the future, that only comes with age?’

Generating Divergence brought together an impressive cohort of dance peers, to explore Dance and the Ageing Body. In a month-long research and development residency, Helen Herbertson, 2022 recipient of the Creative Australia (previously Australia Council For The Arts) Award for Dance, joins Tracks as a guest collaborator and provocateur. The other collaborators were: David McMicken, Rachael Wallis, Desak Putu Warti, Maari Gray, and Jessica Devereux.

Beginning with a retreat at Rum Jungle Bungalows, creative development time was shared between Helen and four older adult dancers living in the Top End. Together, they bring over 300 years of lived dance experience into the studio and an exciting mixture of cultural differences and diverse dance training histories. Time was also spent with the Grey Panthers over 60's dance troupe (Darwin and Coomalie).

'Generating Divergence. Ageing into the Unknown' was a deep-dive exploration into dance in the Ageing Body for older adult professional dancers from such a breadth of backgrounds. The 1st development phase concluded with 'The Conversation': a free interactive Q & A live-streamed to peers across Australia, New Zealand, and Great Britain, Thursday, October 19th, 4 - 5.30 pm - Australian Central Standard Time. This live stream will be transcribed and made available as a video and as a written report

When: September/October 2023. Live Stream October 19th, 4-5.30
Where: Tracks Dance Studio and Rum Jungle Bungalows (Batchelor)
Project Supported by Creative Australia (Australia Council for the Arts)

David's Interview

Artists Bios

Creative Team

Artists: Helen Herbertson, David McMicken, Rachael Wallis, Desak Putu Warti, Maari Gray
Dance dramaturg: Jess Devereux

Guest speaker on the Conversation panel: John Salisbury

Production Manager/Technical Adviser: Duane Preston