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The hirahira aesthetics of wrinkled skin: Notes on an ageing dancer in the contemporary ballet world
Citation
Suganuma, K, The hirahira aesthetics of wrinkled skin: Notes on an ageing dancer in the contemporary ballet world, Studies in Costume & Performance, 7, (2) pp. 183 - 195. ISSN 2052-4013 (2022) [Refereed Article]
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Abstract
This article interprets the skin of an ageing ballerina as costume in the contemporary ballet world in which ageism is predominant. By analysing relatively recent performances and commentaries, in addition to discourses surrounding Yoko Morishita, the 74-year-old prima ballerina with The Matsuyama Ballet, the article discusses the ways in which this woman’s virtuosity sheds new light on the subjectivity of an older dancer on the stage. Drawing on Masuko Honda’s work on girlhood, and also on critical literature from fairy-tale studies, dance studies and queer studies, the article argues that Morishita embodies her naturally aged skin not to further demarcate but in fact to confound the established boundaries between younger and older women in the ballet world. The interpretation that follows of Morishita’s artistry in classical ballet confirms that we must consider the meaning of skin and its relationship to garments when conducting any intersectional analysis of fairy tales and ballet performances. This article thus also is a response to recent calls for artworks and interpretations to voice more diverse forms of subjectivity for old women in the narrative arc of fairy tales. When other older ballerinas begin, like Morishita, to dance princess protagonist roles as a matter of course on the stages of professional ballet companies, the stories to be told about womanhood and femininity will no longer remain simply in the purview of normative gender constructions and associated age discourses.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | costume, dance, fairy tales, gender, older woman, Yoko Morishita |
| Research Division: | Human Society |
| Research Group: | Gender studies |
| Research Field: | Feminist and queer theory |
| Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Group: | Expanding knowledge |
| Objective Field: | Expanding knowledge in human society |
| UTAS Author: | Suganuma, K (Dr Katsuhiko Suganuma) |
| ID Code: | 155760 |
| Year Published: | 2022 |
| Deposited By: | Global Cultures and Languages |
| Deposited On: | 2023-03-14 |
| Last Modified: | 2023-03-21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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