Abstract
People with the lived experience of dementia [PWLED] are some of the most vulnerable older adults. During the COVID-19 pandemic many PWLED have experienced a pause in programs and services, and a separation from their families and friends, in the name of social distancing for community safety. This left them isolated at a time when they could benefit most from connection. However, the Vancouver Foundation-funded project Raising the Curtain on the Lived Experience of Dementia, of which I am a collaborator, responded to the pandemic by pivoting to resume its activities online, thus continuing its work with PWLED and in the process creating new approaches. This paper analyzes the project’s online artistic collaboration and engagement to co-create a two-day online performance that was live-streamed on YouTube and attended by approximately 130 people across the world. Titled Backstage Pass, the performance enabled PWLED to participate in live performance in ways that redressed loss-based dementia narratives and critically questioned understandings of assistance. Drawing on a range of age studies theories, including Basting’s concept of “creative care” and her work with PWLED, and the concept of “access aesthetics” from Disability Theatre (Johnston 153-61), I propose the concept of Dramaturgies of Assistance and Care [DAC] as a framework in progress that describes strategies and approaches to creating performance-as-care. Through examining expressions of DAC in this specific production, I offer ways we can think about theatre and performance as practices of reciprocal care, that embrace and promote personal agency, relationality, embodied selfhood, citizenship, and community.
Presenters
Julia HendersonPostdoctoral Fellow/Special Projects Manager, Communication Studies/Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Concordia University/University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Dementia, Collective-creation, Arts-engaged Practice, Community-based Research, Virtual Engagement, Performance
