Sonia York-Pryce

Sonia York-Pryce
Griffith University

Dr Visual Arts
writing about ageism and how this affects senior professional dancers

About

14
Publications
3,864
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7
Citations
Introduction
Dr. Sonia York-Pryce, Griffith University alumna, is an English trained dancer & interdisciplinary artist based in Australia. Her doctoral research "Ageism and the mature dancer" investigates bias and longevity experienced by senior professional dancers within western dance culture. York-Pryce has produced dance films celebrating the 'corporeal difference' of senior professional dancers, highlighting their embodied practice rather than their age. bit.ly/2t2fCKw orcid.org/0000-0003-2518-2851
Education
March 2014 - September 2020
Griffith University
Field of study
  • Arts Law & Humanities
February 2013 - November 2013
Griffith University
Field of study
  • Visual Arts and Technology
February 2009 - November 2011
Southern Cross University
Field of study
  • Visual Arts

Publications

Publications (14)
Chapter
Advanced age on stage, once a taboo concept, is slowly becoming a reality despite the established aesthetics within Western dance culture that demands perfection, youth, and athleticism. The ostracism or ‘killing off’ of dancers aged over 40 is changing, with an increasing acknowledgement of their lifetime of embodied dance experience. This much-ne...
Article
Full-text available
This article examines the connections between embodied and somatic spirituality that are revealed in the making of the dancefilm Terrain: Dancing on Stolen Land , filmed and performed by the author on Maiawali and Karuwali Country, known as the Channel Country, in the Diamantina National Park in outback Australia. Through a phenomenological approac...
Article
Full-text available
The aim of this article is to delve into memory and dance, and to show how the archive can contribute to definitions of dance. It offers a personal journey into the records of my dance career, where I revisit and reclaim the past framed through the perspective of a mature dancer now aged in my sixties. Using the medium of dancefilm, my position is...
Article
Full-text available
sôma. Sõma. Experimentation using archive unused film footage, produced in 2017, as experimental research to film myself unaided. This solo work was designed as an investigation to highlight 'corporeal difference' using my body as object and ageing as the subject.
Article
Full-text available
In: Six Illuminated Videos. Journal of Embodied Research. Angela Viora, “Phenomenology of big hair caught up in the wind at night” (2:25); Al Evangelista, “How to dance with Filipinx ancestors?” (4:42); Sonia York-Pryce, “Sôma” (4:48); Claire Vionnet and André Dramé, “Dereskina” (5:39); W. Donnie Scally, “Reconfiguring sensory experience: The sound...
Thesis
Full-text available
The research investigates how ageism has impacted the professional practice of male and female older experienced dancers. OED is my term to describe dancers who have undertaken professional training, who are now over the age of 40 and have never ceased performing to the public. I include myself in the research as an older dancer. With face to face...
Article
Full-text available
This article examines the paradigm of ageing regarding older professional dancers who prolong their careers, challenging the normative standards set down in western dance culture. With interest gaining momentum in introducing dance to an ever-increasing ageing population, it seems ironic that the older professional dancer continues to be undervalue...
Article
Full-text available
Discussion regarding the older professional female dance artist and how they navigate the prejudice metered in the Western dance sector. https://issuu.com/critical_path/docs/womens_work_publication
Article
Full-text available
This article is based on information I gathered during my doctoral research, which focused on professional dancers aged over 40 who are still performing. I cite from interviews I have undertaken with dancers based nationally and internationally who initially responded to a survey I sent them regarding ageism and endurance in performance. My aim is...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
This paper details work undertaken for my PhD project, “Ageism and the mature dancer”, where I use digital technology to examine the role of the older, experienced dancer. This is followed by a discussion regarding the project and its aims to make visible the older dancing body on screen, a rare occurrence within Western society. It questions the W...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Today’s focus on a youth-oriented consumer culture also weighs heavily in the current dance world and for some who are approaching forty years of age; retirement is perceived as the legitimate choice. Should this still be the case? Since attending the Elixir Festival at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London 2014 the research indicates there is a renewed...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Current research indicates there is an increasing interest in the mature dancer. This paper investigates ageism and longevity of performance in today’s contemporary ballet culture. It seeks to explore perceived taboos in and around the question of retirement. For generations, dance has been a discriminatory industry, dominated by the idea that fort...

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