Abstract
In contrast to the idea of disability-free aging as 'positive' and 'successful' aging, ill, impaired, older persons who are 'dependent' (physically, socially, economically) are often devalued and stigmatized in ageist and ableist societies. Tracing the extraordinary life course and artistic practices of Tuuli Helkky Helle (1933-2018), an older Finnish dancer who lived with cerebral palsy, this paper highlights how she reclaimed 'dependency' as a positive term and visualized the beauty and power of the interconnected, interrelated, and caring relationships in her arts and life. From her 60s until her 80s, as an artist and activist, she participated in various dance pieces, radical nude photography series, and activist performances for older adults with disabilities. This article is the first academic article that documents her remarkable works and examines her dancing body. Drawing on the theoretical perspective of Ann Cooper Bright (2017; 2019) about gravity, interconnectedness, and disabled and aged bodies and Pia Kontos's notion of "relational citizenship" (2017), this paper illuminates the alternative danceability of the aged-disabled body.