Discussing Disability in Dance Project

One in four people in the US have a disability that impacts a major part of their life according to a 2018 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What if the dance world reflected that statistic?

The Discussing Disability in Dance Book Project seeks to investigate and dismantle the language and stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt (founder/editor of Stance on Dance) and Silva Laukkanen (dance educator and disability advocate) with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team has been compiling interviews with various professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world since 2017, asking about training, access and press, as well as looking at the state of the field.

The Interviewees:

YULIA ARAKELYAN: “It’s Because of Our Unique Bodies That We Are the Amazing Dancers We Are”

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MARC BREW: “I Claim It: I Am A Disabled Man”

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SIDIKI CONDE: “Dance Is About Happiness”

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SUZANNE COWAN: “I Can’t Be Reduced to One Thing”

CHARLENE CURTISS: “They’re Missing the Best Part”

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CHRISTELLE DREYER: “We Have to Prove We Can Move”

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ERIK FERGUSON: “Dancing is How the Body Learns”

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KAYLA HAMILTON: “Do I Need To Name It?”

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JERRON HERMAN: “A Political Understanding of Disability”

ANTOINE HUNTER: “I Move My Body and I Communicate”

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MAIJA KARHUNEN: “I Can Make Space For Myself”

KELCIE LAUBE: “It’s About The Relationship”

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LAUREL LAWSON: “We’re Fighting for Artistic Acceptance”

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KRIS LENZO: “An Opportunity to Educate”

KITTY LUNN: “I’m Waiting for the World to Catch Up with Me”

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TOBY MACNUTT: “It’s Both And”

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LUCA PATUELLI: “Dance Can Be Organically Inclusive”

MARK TRAVIS RIVERA: “I’m Interested in the Nuances of Multi-Identity”

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EVAN RUGGIERO: “I’m Just Another Hustling Artist”

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HANNAH SAMPSON: “How We Respect and Treat Each Other”

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BILL SHANNON: “Dance is Space, Time, Light, and The Human Condition”

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ALICE SHEPPARD: “I Want to Build a Network of Legacy”

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