‘We are the generation who will have to look after ourselves’

It’s Friday afternoon and around 20 dancers, all part of Gerry’s Attic Dance Company, are warming up for their regular practice at the Trinity Centre. Adrian Longstaff has been dancing all his life, and doesn’t plan to stop now, he says proudly. “With dance we are telling a story with our bodies,” he declares. “Whether we are fit or not is beside the point, we are simply giving a different narrative.”

Today the troupe are meeting for the first time after a series of extremely successful performances at the sold-out Full Bloom Festival that brought audience members to tears, conducted by one of the UK’s most celebrated choreographers, Lea Anderson MBE.

This hasn’t been the first glimpse of artistic success for the dance troupe, open only to those aged over 55. In the relatively short time that Gerry’s Attic has been active, the group has toured the South West, giving performances at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Dance, Elixir Festival and at Bristol’s own Harbour Festival. When Julia Thorneycroft set up the company 18 months ago, she worked tirelessly on a project to, as she puts it, “start a conversation about older dance”. Expressing creativity has always been the vision, she stresses with captivating conviction. “This isn’t just some Zumba fitness class.”

Gerry’s Attic Dancers at Full Bloom Festival. Image by @Sebjjp

Julia herself has long been involved in the world of dance. She trained at the prestigious Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and is now director of her own dance company, Julia Thorneycroft Dance Theatre, which teaches groups of all ages and ability. “With Gerry’s Attic I wanted to create a group of senior dancers to work on something with true artistic merit,” she says. “People often think that older lose their creativity when they get older, but this doesn’t have to be true.”

This defiance in the face of a profoundly ageist society is mirrored in another desire voiced by many people who join mature dance companies: to take control of their own health. “I made the decision to keep active through dance, rather than take up the time of the NHS by being in and out of A&E for ailing health,” says Jenny Kaponeridis, another dancer with Gerry’s Attic.

Along with showing that the creativity of old people still has an intrinsic worth, dance was a way for her to become agent of her own health and future. “With increasing life expectancies, we are the generation who will have to look after ourselves, so this is what we are doing. This is us making a stand,” she continues.

Research has shown dancing to be a more effective prevention against dementia than many other activities. Image by @Sebjjp

Indeed, the health benefits of dance are becoming more and more evident, reaching far beyond the obvious improvements to physical fitness. Dance is a workout for the brain: coordinating body and mind through acting out a memorised piece of choreography has been linked to vast improvements in cognitive health. A 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that taking part in ballroom dancing could reduce the chances of getting dementia by 76 per cent – the most successful of all the activities tested.

Participation in group dance classes are also a productive way of fighting against a sedentary lifestyle that can feel inevitable after retiring. Members of Gerry’s Attic described feeling “aimless”; joining the dance group was a great way to continue socialising, and planning for live performances gave them an invigorated sense of purpose.

With so many benefits, both socially and physically, it’s no surprise to hear that local classes for mature dancers regularly fill up, and that festivals like Full Bloom sell out. However, the spectre of studio closures and funding cuts hangs ominously over the future of the dance companies, in an issue that is disproportionately apparent in Bristol.

Anna Arnold of 3rd Stage Dance Company

Anna Arnold, a professional dancer in her 50s as well as the founder of 3rd Stage Dance Company, which teaches ballet to older people, believes things are getting desperate. “I joke that Bristol is the city of arts, except dance,” she says. With the closure of Bristol Dance Centre two years ago and with community spaces like Hamilton House at risk, the number of venues available for dance are becoming few and far between.

In a city that is considered a hub for the arts, this situation is distressing, especially when other places in the South West, like Swindon and Exeter, have their own flourishing dance programs. Arts Council England were approached for this story but declined to comment on the state of dance funding in Bristol.

“Dance is always pushed to the back of the line when it comes to funding, despite the fact that is one of the fasting growing activities,” Anna continues. “It’s sad, because this is important; it’s about not losing your worth as you get older.”

Dancers at Gerry’s Attic Dance Company are all over 50

Back at the Trinity Centre, the older dancers are beginning their class. “These funding cuts are ironic because I often have medical students come along to study our dance classes for older people. They know that the benefits are there, and that something as simple as dance could save the NHS millions, yet our studios are being closed down to make way for more student accommodation,” Julia Thorneycroft says.

Groups like Gerry’s Attic and 3rd Stage have so far refused to be stopped by funding cuts, even when it means they have to find less well-equipped places to dance, but it is becoming more of a struggle to find affordable, accessible spaces, especially those with sprung floors to minimise the physical risks of dancing.

But the optimism of individuals on the ground is evident; Julia’s group have even started a voluntary £3 donation each week to help with fundraise for the Trinity Centre’s new roof. Whether it will be enough to save this sprightly community remains to be seen, but, as one of the dancers puts it with a smile: “Quitting isn’t an option”.

Find out more about Gerry’s Attic Dance Company for over 50s at www.3ca.org.uk/whats-on/regular-classes/gerry-attics