Promoting Freedom and Equality

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Jana Meszaros, a DanceAbility instructor in Eugene, OR. Jana describes her small-town upbringing, how she discovered DanceAbility through contact improvisation, and her road to becoming a Master Teacher. She shares her belief in DanceAbility as a tool for creating […]

November 19, 2018  |  Read Article

Exploring Her Own Access and Excellence

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews India Harville, a dance artist and teacher in the Bay Area. India shares her journey to inclusive dance through yoga, body work, and her ongoing experience with temporary paralysis. She also describes her recent one-woman show, Enough, which explored […]

November 1, 2018  |  Read Article

Choreography for An Arm and A Half

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN; PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIM ISOM In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Julie Crothers, a freelance dancer and emerging choreographer in the Bay Area. After dancing with AXIS Dance Company for three years, Julie began exploring her own choreographic voice. She describes the impetus of her piece […]

October 15, 2018  |  Read Article

Supporting Individual Expression

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Gretchen Pick, executive director of Young Dance in Minnesota’s Twin Cities region. Young Dance offers youth classes and performance opportunities, and started to include dance classes for children and adults with disabilities in 2010 after realizing nothing else was being […]

October 1, 2018  |  Read Article

Rethinking Assistive Technologies

PODCAST BY SILVA LAUKKANEN In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Merry Lynn Morris, assistant director of dance at the University of South Florida. One aspect of Merry Lynn’s work has involved inventing new assistive technologies for disability dance, including a rolling dance chair with remote control, height change and […]

September 10, 2018  |  Read Article