When the dancing went wrong, the evening went right: an argument for ageing and changing cultural practice

Ball, M. (2023) When the dancing went wrong, the evening went right: an argument for ageing and changing cultural practice. European Journal of Cultural Studies, (doi: 10.1177/13675494231179269) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Inspired by a line dancing club in Stoke-on-Trent, and drawing principally on cultural theorist Raymond Williams, this article makes the case for appreciating the ways that cultural practices age and change over time. This group of line dancers held a deep, long, and collective familiarity with their practice, and through this intimacy an idiosyncratic attitude to dancing mistakes emerged. Taking these mistakes, collectively recast by dancers as ‘variations’, as the central empirical focus, I describe a sense of collective agency manifesting a solidaristic style of ageing together. Raymond Williams helps make this articulation political: in defending the time and space needed for such attitudes around practice to emerge, and the attitudes themselves.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Ball, Mr Mark
• Authors: Ball, M.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Culture and Creative Arts > Theatre Film and TV Studies
• Journal Name: European Journal of Cultural Studies
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 1367-5494
• ISSN (Online): 1460-3551
• Published Online: 22 June 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Author
• First Published: First published in European Journal of Cultural Studies 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License