Never stop dancing: I'll stop when I turn [begin strikethrough]30, 40, 50,[end strikethrough] 60 ...

How old do you have to be before they take away your tutu, before you tuck away your taps? Philadelphia's most dapper tapper, LaVaughn Robinson, is still trading eights at 80, and just last year Anna Halprin performed some of her repertoire at her eightieth-year retrospective in San Francisco. Margot Fonteyn danced through her late 50s and Maya Plisetskaya danced past 70. Groups that celebrate mature dancers include 40Up Project, Dancers Over 40, Netherlands Dance Theater III, Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange, and the newly formed trio Paradigm. And when 59-year-old Douglas Dunn is asked when he might retire, he says, "Gee, I really haven't thought about it."

These dancers and choreographers bring a wealth of expressiveness to dance that transcends mere youthfulness. Barring injuries, a healthy dancer ought to be able to dance--if not exactly as she had danced in her youth--into the twilight years. But in order to maintain the strength and muscle tone to continue dancing, taking care of the body must become a top priority, even more a part of everyday life than before.

Dudley Williams, a thirty-year veteran of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, is still dancing gloriously in Revelations and other vintage Alley works. Asked how he keeps in shape, he answers, "I rest. A lot. I read, sleep, eat only two meals a day--lunch and dinner--meat and potatoes, breads and salads. I'm a big black-tea drinker, and I like a couple of beers or a glass of red wine when I'm touring. I teach, so I have to demonstrate." He did have a knee injury that almost brought him to the operating table, but, he says, "Pilates [therapy] took care of that. I'm going back to Pilates as therapy right now. It works your whole body. One of my secrets is I even do a Pilates warm-up."

At 63, Williams feels his artistry has ripened with the years. "When I was younger, my teachers were always saying, `Put some weight into it.' "Now, he says, "I finally learned how to get some weight." Along with Carmen de Lavallade and Gus Solomons jr, he makes up the trio Paradigm (which performs at the Joyce Theater in January 2002).

Choreographer Deborah Hay, who is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas at Austin, is still mesmerizing at age 59. She recently performed a duet with Mikhail Baryshnikov on the White Oak Dance Project's PASTForward tour. She uses Zen exercises that she learned from Eva Karczag and Lisa Kraus (both Trisha Brown alumnae) that begin with stretches along the front and back of the body. "The approach for our age needs to be gentle," says Hay. She quotes from the I Ching, "Gentleness breaks up all things." (Hay is preparing for a European tour in January 2002.)

Fifty-one-year-old Robert Swinston, who dances in the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, brings a grandeur to his roles. He has the look of a danseur noble and such a Faustian intensity that it's hard to take your eyes off him. Yet he has concerns about whether he still fits into the company. "As the dancer who's been with Merce the longest, I'm twenty to thirty years older than some of the other dancers," he points out. "I certainly don't want to dance beyond the point where it's really noticeable that I'm so much older than the others." He's asked friends and former Cunningham dancers like Carolyn Brown to tell him truthfully when they think he should retire. "So far they tell me to leave the hook in the closet. I'm going to continue to knock on wood that I haven't had any debilitating injuries. I'm still in every dance, but the parts I'm getting aren't quite as big, and that keeps me from getting burned out." He keeps training by taking classes, and when he teaches, "I don't just sit there and watch, I do it with the students."

Choreographer Douglas Dunn, who has been dancing and choreographing for thirty-some years, attributes his longevity to the Cunningham technique. "In many respects Merce's technique is less damaging than some," he says. "He uses the big muscles. Maybe that's why I haven't suffered any serious injuries and still feel strong. Of course, you can overwork in any technique, and trying out new moves over and over sometimes is not safe at all." Dunn goes on to say, "As I get older I dance fewer hours in the day. I read more because I need more rest--poetry, biographies, cosmology." Like Swinston, he teaches technique classes as a way of keeping fit, and continues to choreograph. (His new work, Aerobia, will be premiered November 15--18 and 23-28 at P.S. 122 in New York; see www.ps122.org.)

The pioneer of mixed-age dance troupes, Liz Lerman's Dance Exchange, based in Takoma Park, Maryland, sports three members over 60 (see profile of Thomas Dwyer in "Any Body Can Dance," page 48). The exchange in the group's name is about the experience older dancers bring--both to their art and as exemplars to younger dancers--and the renewed energy younger dancers inspire in their older peers. Lerman feels that audiences like the new demographics of the stage, which more closely matches the population at large. "As they get older, baby boomers are not going to want to watch only young people. It is ultimately about art and being able to connect to it."

"No species of performing artist is as self-critical as a dancer."

--Susan Sontag

Are you too self-critical? Not self-critical enough? Read Wendy Perron's lecture, "The Uses and Abuses of Self-Criticism in Dance," inspired by the quote above. This talk was first presented at the American College Dance Festival Association conference, Great Lakes region, in March 2001. To obtain a free copy, send a self-addressed stamped (55 [cents]) envelope to:

Greta Martin, Editorial Assistant Dance Magazine 333 Seventh Avenue, 11th floor New York, NY 10001 or email her at [e-mail].

Merilyn Jackson writes about dance, food, and Eastern European literature for the Philadelphia Inquirer, The Phoenix New Times, and other publications.