What does it mean to continue growing as an artist later in life? How do experience, creativity and performance evolve over time?
This August, DanceEast and EncoreEast will invite dancers aged 50 and over to explore these questions through movement, artistic enquiry and the GILA Method with internationally renowned choreographer and teacher Galit Liss. Pushing Boundaries: Experienced Movers Edition – Exploring Presence Through the GILA Method will take place at DanceEast in Ipswich from 18-21 August 2026.
Recognised internationally for her pioneering work with older dancers, Liss developed the GILA Method, a somatic approach that challenges assumptions about age and performance by celebrating the expressive richness, intelligence and creative potential that emerge through lived experience.
Over the four-day intensive, participants will engage in movement research, improvisation and embodied exploration, investigating how the body inhabits space, develops presence and communicates through performance. Designed specifically for older dancers, the programme welcomes participants from a wide range of movement backgrounds and aims to create an inspiring environment for curiosity, experimentation and artistic growth.
“We’re delighted to welcome Galit Liss back to DanceEast following the success of this year’s intensive. This programme offers a rare opportunity for experienced dancers to deepen their artistic practice with one of the world’s leading practitioners working with older bodies,” says Stella Eldon of EncoreEast.
“This intensive is an invitation to rediscover the creative potential of the mature body. Rather than seeing age as a limitation, the GILA Method explores the depth, presence and artistic richness that experience can bring to performance,” says Galit Liss
As international interest in artistic practice with older bodies continues to grow, the intensive offers participants the opportunity to work closely with one of the leading voices in the field while exploring new possibilities for performance and creative expression later in life.
Applications are now open for participants from the UK and beyond. The intensive will take place from 18-21 August 2026 at DanceEast in Ipswich, UK.
Further information and application details are available at https://encoreeastdance.co.uk/pushing-boundaries-open-call-experienced-movers-edition-gila-method/
