Still Moving – Ethical considerations in embodied practice Artwork

Practice As Research

Practice As Research aims to bring together the many different strands of practice-led/based research across all disciplines so as to not be limited by disciplinary conventions, but instead to benefit from cross-disciplinary fertilisation. In the wider academic communities, there are many terms in use to describe the research-practice nexus. For the sake of consistency we adopt the term 'practice as research'. Fundamentally, we consider practice as research any practice that is underpinned by scholarship and academic rigour. The primary aim of Practice As Research is sharing practices, providing constructive feedback and thus enabling the mutual development of understanding around practice as research.

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Practice As Research

Still Moving – Ethical considerations in embodied practice

January 18, 2023 • Nicole Brown • Season 2 • Episode 5

In this online seminar Dr Sonia York-Pryce reflects on ethical considerations within embodied practice and dance research.

To reflect on ethical considerations in her work, Sonia will begin with outlining the context of her work and what inspired her research. She will then explore the taboo of ageing and aesthetics and highlight the difference of the older dancer’s body. She will draw on her expertise in ageism and embodiment to talk about Practice As Research, which for her meant the creation of dance films with national and international senior professional dancers, but also with herself as a dancer.

Sonia York-Pryce, Dr Visual Arts, (Griffith University, Australia), Ba. Digital Media, (Honours; (Griffith University), Ba. Visual Arts (Southern Cross University, Australia), dancer, photographer, videographer, and interdisciplinary artist. From the 1960s to the present-day Sonia has trained and danced extensively in ballet and contemporary dance, initially in the UK then settling in Australia in 1994. She studied classical ballet at Elmhurst Ballet School, the Royal Ballet School, the London School of Contemporary Dance, and the Laban Centre, in London, UK. Sonia’s doctoral research, “Ageism and the Mature Dancer” examined how senior professional dancers, aged over 40, still performing, navigate the dance-by-date perpetuated within Western dance and consumer culture’s obsession with youth. Across a survey conducted through interviews and by email to over 35 participants, based nationally and internationally, York-Pryce discovered what drives these dancers to continue, and how they maintain their bodies.