“Everything has its time and the time when I had great physical strength is gone; I have to use the possibilities I have now.” For Ana Laguna, born in Zaragoza in 1954, and living in Sweden, expressing herself in movement is as vital and as natural as ever. But “the possibilities that I have now are different compared to those I had when I was young.” Fortunately, more than daring technical acrobats, Mats Ek needs dancers with a good deal of experience in life, if the psychology in his pieces is to be believable. No lack of that in his recently premiered “Ställe” (Place), where he paired up Laguna with another veteran celebrity, Mikhail Baryshnikov. At 53 Laguna, Ek’s wife and signature dancer for some thirty years, can provide not only that depth and intensity necessary to explore all nuances of human relations, but also a different narrative potential. “As a female around the age of forty,” she observes, “you first think you are finished as a dancer, then as a woman, since you can no longer have children. But it is necessary to find a way to continue. I think this is important since there is something else in a mature person, a mature dancer. You do not need to do those big jumps or do the splits.
There exists a special kind of maturity which is different and beautiful. As a dancer I think it is important to get to the core of the human being in different ways. In dance you try to mirror life, and if you only mirror youth instead of all ages – what then? It is important that everybody can recognise themselves in all situations, and this is what I try to do.”

Today’s audiences are in fact looking for different bodies and experiences on stage. As proven by “Ställe” that was received with deep silence and concentration. Yet in spite of that, it still is hard for 40+ dancers (not as illustrious as Baryshnikov or Laguna) to continue dancing. Laguna regrets that and has therefore been trying to create such possibilities for others. “There has to be an option. Misha has created one for himself through his company but it is hard for those who do not have the same opportunities. It is important that the possibility of continuing exists so that they will not be forced to stop but have the choice. It is also important that choreographers are open to older dancers. It can be interesting for a choreographer – perhaps not everybody – to meet older dancers and research what their possibilities are. This will also force the choreographer to research his own possibilities and limitations and this will lead to a new kind of exchange.”
Ana Laguna believes the privilege of older practitioners of any profession is having the time and maturity to go deeper. No longer having anything to prove, they are free to focus solely on what is important to them as experienced human beings.

Lena Andrén