I feel there is quite a bit of ageism in the dance world. FB, IG keep showing 50 year olds and exclaiming how wonderful it this people can still walk, let alone dance! And heaven forbid an older woman should show up at a social dance. She can expect to just sit there with her knitting needles and watch the Young People Enjoy Them selves.
I recently watched a YT video by @imsotango and it was about taxi dancers. They are professional Argentine Tango dancers who provide beginner or inexperienced dancers with the opportunity to dance with an accomplished dancer usually in a new setting where the beginner dancer may not know anyone or may not be invited by people who prefer dancing with experienced dancers.
They may also be the only opportunity for an older woman to dance. It’s a paid service, so the interaction feels transactional and frankly unflattering, because while some of the older dancers might be beginners, many are experienced dancers with whom it would be a pleasure and a privilege to dance with.
Another example is ProAm competitions, often with a young man as the Pro and an older woman as the amateur. That relationship really highlights the age gap as older women are more interested in dancing than older men, and the only way to get a good male lead is by engaging a young instructor’s time (I haven’t met any older ones) for a lot of money.
Either way, when we as older women come to a dance event, we want to dance just as much as anyone else. I suppose we will just have to dance with ourselves, or by ourselves. Please anyone watching, don’t judge or criticize. We are just trying to have fun and enjoy the beauty of music and movement.