FORRÓ OF THE BETTER AGE: A “POLITICAL WILL” TAKING CARE OF ACTIVE AGING

Abstract

: this paper points out reflections arising from fieldwork in progress in Forró da Melhor Idade promoted by Projeto Conviver in the city of Goianésia, in the state of Goiás, located in the central-west region of Brazil. These are reflections that involve dance, aging and older people, from which I expose concerns about a political scenario in an interior context. A quick dialogue with public policies aimed at this social segment, as well as a brief association with the autonomy paradigm, is presented. The reflections produced in this paper are mobilized by a field of ethnographic experiments based on participant observation, in a bet on the anthropological practice to modulate possibilities of dance in the moment of life called “old age”. The investigation of the ways in which the universe of dance contributes to producing the course of life of older people has revealed, in the interior context studied, at least so far, three observations. What draws attention is the fact that physical activities and leisure, and dancing is included in this combo, are elements that are always remembered when the target audience is the elderly. These elements emphasize that old age and dance are always intertwined for an active aging policy. Older people who dance can easily draw a profile of old age that mobilizes those interested in promoting quality of life as a social issue. Such findings can inspire debates that stress existing public policies and the forms they assume in contemporary Western societies.