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Kerry Thompson is the Founding Executive Director of Silent Rhythms Inc. Kerry has been a Latin dancer since 2002 performing in Barcelona, Boston, Havana, Honolulu, Kigali, Miami, New York City, Paris, and Stamford.
She was a founding member of the Boston Rueda Dance Company and previously a member of the MetaMovements Dance Company. She continues a longstanding collaboration with MetaMovements, teaching at the Salsa In The Park summer series. She has produced three popular series, Inclusion 101, Inclusive Movements, and Inclusive Creativity. She has pioneered dance inclusion programs such as the Salsa-ASL class and Dance-ASL project.
At a young age, Kerry was diagnosed as profoundly deaf then diagnosed a few years later with Ushers’. Aside from her dance commitments, Kerry is a renowned global inclusion expert and human rights changemaker, having provided guidance to the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other government agencies and philanthropic organizations, advancing rights for persons with disabilities. Kerry was named a 2020 Visiting Artist for the Harvard Dance Center and a 2014 Marshall Memorial fellow. She has received a Master’s degree from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology.
1. I envision a world where everyone has access to an inclusive and enjoyable dance experience in a safe space. My goal has been to provide dance classes and socials that people with disabilities can attend where they feel welcome and supported. I also have the goal of educating society on how to be more inclusive and accessible through dance. It is my hope to bring this vision and goal to NDEO to learn how to do so, to provide an accessible and inclusive experience through NDEO’s own platform. My strategy is to be collaborative and partner with other educators in the field on this topic.
2. I have been a dance instructor for people with disabilities for more than 20 years. I founded a dance nonprofit called Silent Rhythms to provide and promote access to the arts. I have produced webinars on inclusive dance, taught in-person trainings to dance educators, and have produced learning modules on inclusion to the arts for patrons with deafblindness. My events have included American Sign Language, haptic vests, audio describers, open captions, and a sensory-friendly environment.
3. I have served as the founding Executive Director of Silent Rhythms and have been a renowned dance instructor in New England. Additionally, I have served 18 years at a global nonprofit that advances the rights of persons with disabilities worldwide. I have served on the Board of Directors for DEAF, Inc.; Board Liaison for DeafBlind Community Access Network; appointed by the governor to the MA Commission on the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the MA Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Statewide Advisory Council. I have also served on the New England Foundations for the Arts Advisory Council and the Mass Cultural Council Disability Advisory Committee. I was a 2014 German Marshall Fund Marshall Memorial Fellow.
4. I have collaborated with cultural institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts; Boston’s Children Museum; Discovery Museum; Boston Ballet; Mass Cultural Council; Lowell Cultural Council; Malden Cultural Council and Think Outside the Vox. These collaborations have lead to accessible arts programming; learning modules; accessibility audits; and public events.
5 (C). I have overseen various projects including the development of learning modules, webinars, and in-person trainings. I have developed several dance projects such as the Salsa ASL project and the Dance ASL project. I have also overseen many projects as part of my work at a global grantmaking organization.