Educational Media Reviews Online

Uncertainty and grief, rather than celebration, are often emotions associated with retirement from a long successful career. In The Dance Goodbye, viewers follow former star ballerina Merrill Ashley through a ten year journey following her retirement from the New York City Ballet.

The film’s context of the ballet profession allows the universal aspects of retirement and aging to be magnified. Ashley begins pursuing her career in ballet starting at the age of five, moving to New York as a child, and then dancing with the New York City Ballet for thirty years until retiring in 1997 at age 46. Not only has Ashley retired from a youth driven profession, but she has retired from the New York City Ballet, one of the most athletic organizations within the profession of dance. Thus, Ashley’s post-retirement future resembles not only that of other athletes, but that of other successful baby boomers who look forward to longer retirements than those of earlier generations.

Merrill Ashley and the uniqueness of her career are also captured in this documentary. Through her articulate reflections starting from her first year retirement, we learn that like other dancers, she has long been working with physical injuries. We also see her affable and energetic personality in the accompanying archival performance footage from Ashley’s career.

The frank presentation of the emotional process of retiring from one’s career is why I highly recommend this for libraries supporting dance majors, dancers beginning their careers, and parents and educators who support dancers. Collections supporting retirement, retirees, and aging will also want to include this film.