Discussing Disability in Dance Book

One in four people in the US has a disability that impacts a major part of their life according to a 2018 report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance asks: What if the dance world reflected that statistic?

Cover of book

Image description: The cover of “Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance” against a wood table

Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field.

Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Herringbone Books, Green Apple Books, Walmart, and other online retailers.

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Purchase your audiobook copy on Audible.

Details: Authored by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen, illustrations by Liz Brent-Maldonado, design by Christelle Dreyer, edited by Donne Lewis and April Adams, audiobook narrated by Sami Kekäläinen

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The dancers interviewed:

Redouan “Redo” Ait Chitt: “I Want to Inspire People with Good Dance”

Illustration of Redo doing a handstand

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Yulia Arakelyan: “It’s Not ‘Despite,’ It’s Because Of Our Unique Bodies”

Yulia Arakelyan illustration

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Marc Brew: “I Claim It: I Am A Disabled Man”
Marc Brew illustration
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Hai Cohen: “I Would Like to See Good Dance, Period”

Hai Cohen illustration

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Sidiki Conde: “Dance Is About Happiness”
Sidiki Conde illustration
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Hanna Cormick: “Not What My Body Does, But What My Body Is”

Illustration of Hanna Cormick

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Suzanne Cowan: “I Can’t Be Reduced to One Thing”

Illustration of Suzanne Cowan

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Charlene Curtiss: “They’re Missing the Best Part”

Charlene Curtiss illustration

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Christelle Dreyer: “We Have to Prove We Can Move”

Illustration of Christelle Dreyer

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Erik Ferguson: “Dancing is How the Body Learns”

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Nastija Fijolič: “Judge Me as A Dancer, Not as A Wheelchair Dancer”

Nastija Fijolič illustration

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Kayla Hamilton: “Do I Need To Name It?”

Kayla Hamilton illustration

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Jerron Herman: “A Political Understanding of Disability”

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Antoine Hunter: “I Move My Body and I Communicate”
Antoine Hunter illustration
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Lusi Insiati: “To Be Accepted as We Are”

Lusi Insiati's illustration

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Isabel Cristina Jiménez: “Dance is Freedom”

Illustration of Isabel Cristina Jiménez

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Maija Karhunen: “I Can Make Space For Myself”

Maija Karhunen illustration

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Kelcie Laube: “It’s About The Relationship”

Illustration of Kelcie Laube
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Laurel Lawson: “We’re Fighting for Artistic Acceptance”
Laurel Lawson illustration
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Jung Soo “Krops” Lee: “Disability Isn’t Only What You See”

Illustration of Krops

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Kris Lenzo: “An Opportunity to Educate”

Kris Lenzo illustration

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Kitty Lunn: “I’m Waiting for the World to Catch Up with Me”
Kitty Lunn illustration
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Toby MacNutt: “It’s Both And”

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Kazuyo Morita: “We Need Role Models”

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Luca Patuelli: “Dance Can Be Organically Inclusive”

Illustration of Lucy Patuelli

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Mark Travis Rivera: “The Nuances of Multi-Identity”
Mark Travis Rivera illustration
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Evan Ruggiero: “Just Another Hustling Artist”
Evan Ruggiero illustration
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Hannah Sampson: “How We Respect and Treat Each Other”
Hannah Sampson illustration
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Bill Shannon: “Space, Light, Time, and The Human Condition”
Bill Shannon illustration
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Alice Sheppard: “I Want to Build a Network of Legacy”
Alice Sheppard illustration
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Judith Smith: “Making Physically Integrated Work Part of The Dance Canon”

Judith Smith illustration

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Mary Verdi-Fletcher: “Blazing the Trail”

Illustration of Mary Verdi-Fletcher

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Alexandria Wailes: “Let Us Move!”

Alexandria Wailes illustration

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Krishna Washburn: “I’m Cutthroat; This is My Career”

Illustration of Krishna Washburn

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Elizabeth Winkelaar: “We’re Blowing Disability Out of the Water”
Elizabeth Winkelaar illustration
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