Moving Memory Dance Theatre is a company of older women which produces innovative contemporary performance, installation and participatory work. The work we produce ' and the way we produce it - challenges perceived notions of age and ageing, asks audiences and participants to look beyond their assumptions, and changes attitudes towards older people.
This research looked at the project we did last summer where a company of 25 younger and older people worked together to make and perform a pop-up piece called Start Stomping. We hoped the project would improve self-concept and age attitudes in participants and asked Ian Farr of University of Kent to undertake the research. The report finds "Positive self-concept is intrinsic to wellbeing and engagement with health behaviours. Intergenerational contact has previously been shown to have important benefits to older and younger people's self-concept, and to reduce negative stereotypes of ageing. The research consisted of older (mean age = 65) and younger (mean age = 21) people who participated in an intergenerational dance theatre performance. Implicit and explicit measures of age attitudes were collected before practice sessions had begun, and then again after the performance. Significant effects were identified for implicit age attitudes (F(1,16) = 5.62, p = 0.03). In line with the hypothesis of the intervention, involvement in the workshops and performance had a counter-stereotype effect on implicit attitude test reaction times. No other effects were elicited. Results are interpreted in terms of attitude theory, and stereotype embodiment theory. Limitations of the study are discussed. In conclusion, the intergeneration dance theatre project was a successful intervention to counter negative age stereotypes and negative self-stereotypes which may serve protective functions in terms of health and health behaviours."
