ABSTRACT
Slamdancing and moshing are forms of dance associated with the punk and hardcore music scenes. In both slamdancing and moshing, ‘participant violently hurl their bodies at one another in an area known as a “pit”’, close to the stage where bands perform. The body movements involved in moshing tend to be more exaggerated, individualistic displays, sometimes involving jumping kicks that seem to be derived from martial arts. Analyses of ageing in the independent/punk music scene, such as W. Fonarow’s, liken the ageing process to moving further towards the back of a venue before finally outgrowing the entire live indie music experience. To the extent that older individuals are, in fact, reconnecting to the scene when they dance, it is important to keep in mind that the scene with which they are reconnecting is often an idealized vision of the past.
