Speaker: Prof. Jane Davidson

Title: Active Creative Ageing: Insights from Expert Older Musicians, Dancers and Athletes

Date: Thursday, 4th June 2026

Time: 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Location: Lecture Room A, Alison House, 12 Nicolson Square

Abstract

Music, dance, and sport are widely recognised for their contributions to physical, psychological, and social wellbeing in later life. However, existing research has tended to focus on localised, small-scale studies and on individuals who take up these activities in older adulthood. Far less attention has been given to those who have sustained high-level artistic or athletic practice across the lifespan, particularly in relation to how such engagement is maintained across diverse cultural contexts. This presentation reports findings from a mixed-methods study investigating lifelong engagement among older expert musicians, dancers, and athletes from multiple countries. The study combines semi-structured interviews with 23 participants and an international online survey involving 92 musicians and dancers, examining shifts in practice habits, motivations, and the meanings attributed to participation across key life stages.

The findings suggest that while early-career engagement is often characterised by a focus on mastery, competition, and public recognition, participation in later life tends to be oriented more toward self-expression, enjoyment, and social connection. Participants sustained high levels of engagement by adapting their practices and redefining success in ways that were meaningful within their local contexts, despite experiencing age-related physical and cognitive changes. Across varied cultural settings, similar patterns of motivational flexibility were evident, supporting ongoing participation and continued wellbeing benefits. By situating these practices within multiple national and cultural contexts, this study highlights shared adaptive processes that underpin sustained engagement and contribute to healthy ageing.

Biography

Jane Davidson is Director of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Chair of the Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative, and Head of Opera in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne. She leads curriculum, research, and engagement, with a focus on the role of creativity and wellbeing across the life course. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, she is internationally recognised for research including Australian Research Council projects on music engagement, social cohesion, and musical development.

Jane has published extensively, is a former editor of Psychology of Music, and has held numerous advisory and editorial roles globally. She is current President of the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts. She began her academic career working at Keele and then City (now City St Georges) universities and taught as a sessional lecturer at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She worked at University of Sheffield for many years, co-founding the Psychology for Musicians masters’ program. She then moved to University of Western Australia before taking up a post at Melbourne in 2014. Across her career, Jane has maintained her creative practice as an opera singer and stage director.