Not every dance gets a second life, and even fewer return with their original interpreter.
But such is the case with acclaimed dancer, choreographer and educator Carol Anderson’s Elsinore/night hours, a work whose resonance has only deepened across decades. Twenty-five years after its premiere, the solo returns as part of Moonhorse Dance Theatre’s 25th Anniversary edition of Older & Reckless series. Performed once again by longtime collaborator, dancer-choreographer Julia Sasso, this remount becomes a living meditation on memory, evolution, and the courage of returning.
“It’s exceedingly rare for a contemporary dance artist to have such a long relationship to a particular work of dance,” agrees Anderson. “It’s intriguing, and it feels like a true treasure, working with Julia to return to the space and ambiance of this solo.” Their long arc of shared artistic history — spanning generations, leadership shifts, and creative evolutions — forms the deeply personal backdrop to this revival. “Her engagement with Elsinore/night hours is resonant and also quite raw, in a way — there’s no disguising the changes time makes in bodies’ abilities,” Anderson observes. “But dancerly wisdom and perseverance can also shine a light on potential… Julia has bravely walked into this zone of possibility. It’s inspiring!”
Why now?
The timing of this remount is uncannily apt. “The original was created in 1999 for Dancemakers’ 25th anniversary,” notes Anderson, who was a founding member of Dancemakers in 1974. “Long cycles of time are something that age unfolds. Now, Julia is dancing Elsinore 25 years after its creation, in the 25th anniversary Older & Reckless program.”
These parallel anniversaries are more than commemorative: they echo the themes at the heart of the work, which Anderson describes as a turning point in her choreographic life. “Making the original marked a significant point of creative change for me, toward a more spontaneous, collaborative process. And I’ve always been drawn back to this dance.” For Sasso also, the solo had a liminal quality: she was “in her prime as a company dancer when we made it, but on the cusp of big changes in her career, as well”.
Returning to the work now feels both natural and charged with meaning. “Julia is a true dance warrior, and the metaphor of her returning to her former home – profoundly changed, while still deeply rooted there – seems resolute and hopeful to me.”
What’s changed?
Described in 1999 as meditative and rich in imagery, Anderson describes the original solo as “very difficult physically, with the dancer literally hanging on the edge—not performing with easy expertise, but achieving feats of balance and continuity as challenges that must be met—metaphor and action entwined.” Working toward this revival has allowed new approaches to emerge: “Julia has dug deep and discovered new ways to address the physicality of the work. We have changed and added movement, but the essential movement character remains.”
So though the steps have shifted, the dance’s existential core has not. “The solo has been described as ‘a masterpiece of psychological movement’,” explains Anderson. “I think of it as existential. Julia dances this soliloquy, studded with images that speak of self-reflection, memory, pain, challenge, resolve… There is no separation between the dancer and the dance. As she always has been, Julia is a brave and honest artist.”
What’s inside the architecture of Elsinore/night hours?
The title offers a key: “Elsinore was the name of Hamlet’s castle. I came to this title after we finished making the original solo, seeing that there were several areas or ‘rooms’ onstage where certain phrases or movements occurred, within the broader context of this piece’s concept of the house or castle as a metaphor for the self.”
Sasso’s return becomes both metaphorical and embodied. “In Elsinore/night hours, Julia returns to her castle: to the dance, to this place she knew twenty-five years ago. She comes back as a warrior, a Joan of Arc figure, a crusader, herself.” As she does, writing—“on the floor, in the air, on her body”—becomes a recurring gesture. “There’s a poignance about what she has inscribed and now retraces: what is scored into her body, and also the joy of seeing Julia dance with such fierce devotion and artistry.”
Even Older and more Reckless?
Founded by Claudia Moore and now stewarded by Artistic Director Allison Cummings, Older & Reckless remains a vital platform for dance artists 45+ years of age. In addition to the highly anticipated remount of Anderson’s Elsinore/night hours, the series returns to the Fleck Harbourfront Centre Theatre this fall with three other works.
Handmade is a premiere duet by Montreal’s Marc Boivin and Louise Bédard which explores the invitation to be “older and reckless”. de corazón is William Yong’s love letter to the heart, performed by ballet legend Sonia Rodriguez. And this year, 26 dance enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds, who range in age from their mid-40s to early 80s, will perform a 10-minute work by Jenn Goodwin through Moonhorse’s Community Performance Project. And finally, a special anniversary video celebrates the many artists who have shaped the series.
Against this rich backdrop, Anderson’s reflections on the series feel especially resonant. “Claudia Moore’s idea to create Older & Reckless was bold and generous,” she affirms, and “the series continues to have a distinctive spirit and character, and to challenge assumptions about age, performance and dance.” Pointing specifically to the series’ audience warmups, its commitment to visibility for senior artists, and its impact on dance ecology, she notes that “O&R gave audiences a way to see older artists doing their work… O&R validates wisdom in motion – age onstage – allowing space for dance that is often not available.”
The experience is fundamentally joyful, and eagerly anticipated. “The series is very popular—and that popularity speaks to a hunger for seeing great movers at all stages,” Anderson notes. “There’s a richness of nuance and experience, a depth of care. And Older & Reckless shows are always fun—there’s a celebratory air about them that reflects the goodhearted spirit of the series.”
And in this year’s 25th anniversary edition, that celebratory spirit meets the rare opportunity to witness an artist revisiting a landmark work with the fuller, richer depth of lived experience: “It’s extraordinary how nuances and poetry of dance can illuminate things that seem otherwise unsayable!”
Older & Reckless is on stage November 21 – 22, 2025 at Fleck Harbourfront Centre Theatre. Tickets are available at moonhorsedance.com.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine 2025
