Gracefool and friends

Photo Anna Krushnirenko

2022 was the year where we met two groups of inspiring older adults who helped us envision a future in which us Gracefools spend our third age being fearless, audacious, vivacious and unapologetic.

Yorkshire Dance invited us to be lead artists on Strike a Pose, a pop up performance rolling out the red carpet for a cast of non-professional older adults as they harness the energy of catwalk and voguing culture, being bold, proud and absolutely extra. We were inspired by an idea from the formidable TC Howard, and inspirational octogenarians like Vivienne Westwood, Al Pacino and Tom Jones, wanting to find a way to continue our research that had begun to flourish with our group of rebel grannies the previous year.  During the project we were supported by some top notch dance artists in Leeds who worked with their groups of older adults to get them performance ready until we came together to groove, move and spend LOTS of time practising walking with power and purpose. 

The final performances in Leeds Market, Leeds City Centre and at Leeds Playhouse stopped the public in their tracks.

In October, filled with the joy of Strike a Pose, we travelled to Italy to dance and play with another group, Dance Well, as part of Dancing the Horizontal, an international exchange and collaboration program, supported by the British Council, in partnership with Yorkshire Dance and CSC dancehouse in Bassano del Grappa. 

Could we speak the language? No. Did it matter? Absolutely not. We talked at each other and gestured and had the help of wonderful dance artist Illaria to translate the more complex things, and over two weeks we made a whole load of new friends to drink spritz with in gorgeous piazzas. We ran, shouted, beckoned and boogied in the beautiful park, waving at passers by and waltzing about like we owned the place. In our downtime, we tried every type of pasta available.

But we mostly spent our time behind our laptops submitting and resubmitting and resubmitting and resubmitting applications. Nothing stuck unfortunately. We were, at points, very disheartened. However, over the years we have submitted many more unsuccessful applications than successful ones and rejection is a feeling we are used to. Now we are wisened, gnarled choreographers, our skin is thick, but it does make us question the many hours of work we put into this unpaid now success is harder to gain… 

But, who would swap a life where we get to run in circles in oversized stiletto heels, make intricate origami whilst doing petit allegro, roll around on the floor in wedding dresses, run screaming through large warehouses and just generally have a blooming good time?

We know how lucky we are to have been given some fantastic opportunities over the years. We are in it for the long game and so we’ll keep hitting send and crossing our fingers into another year.