“My work is no longer about what my body produces; it’s not what my body does, but what my body is.” Australian performance artist Hanna Cormick discusses how her artistic practice has become a reclamation of body through radical visibility.
“We need role models in this field so there’s somebody who other disabled people can copy or aspire to be, but I don’t think that’s possible unless more dancers come into this field. I personally think it’s very important to establish the status of disabled dancers and train more disabled dancers.” Kazuyo Morita, a dancer and actress from Osaka, Japan, shares how crucial role models are to motivating people with disabilities to try dance.
“I don’t really mind being called inspiring, but I hope the dance itself was inspiring as much as the dancer onstage. I want to inspire people with good dance.” Netherlands-based b-boy and ILL-Abilities member Redouan “Redo” Ait Chitt shares how what drives him is to be a good dancer, period.
Ninoska M’bewe Escobar, a dance scholar and Postdoctoral Fellow in Dance at the University of New Mexico, discusses her focus on bringing more awareness to the legacy of Pearl Primus, as well as why it is important to teach the history of dance forms alongside technique.
Maguette Camara, a globally recognized West African dancer, choreographer, teacher, and drummer based in New York City, shares how African dance is at the root of most dance forms and thus benefits any dancer to train in, as well as how New York City has a flourishing African dance scene.