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Dance and Disability

Disability 101 Workshops

The following workshops were presented at NDEO Conferences by the NDEO Dance and Disability Task Force.

2020 Series

The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its 30th year in 2020. Much has occurred in American disability culture, regulation and societal understanding since 1990, and much remains to be done. These 1.5-hour workshops and panel discussions address introductory concepts for dance educators to understand language, history and tools needed to bring accessibility and inclusion into their classrooms and community. Presented each day of conference with a different panel, Disability 101 addresses 3 dance constituencies. These workshops were presented with support from the Theresa Foundation.

Featuring Ellice Patterson, Founding Director of Abilities Dance and Teri Wagner, Founding Director of Spoke N Motion Dance.

Featuring Sidiki Conde, Founder of Tokounou All Ability African Dance and teacher for Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County and Brandy Mimms, Deaf dancer, choreographer, teacher, and Founder of Listen With Your Eyes Dance Troupe

Featuring Myna Majors, dancer, educator and former member of Baba Olatunji Drums of Passion and Ginger Lane, Coordinator of the Arts & Culture project at Chicago’s Access Living, the foremost Disability Rights Organization in the U.S

2021 Series

This session has ASL interpretation and CART Captioning. This is a Q&A for a pre-recorded, intervisitation into dance videos that are designed to help improve physical, social, and professional skills by BodyWise Dance. Founder Margot Greenlee’s choreographic vision is founded on participatory dance-making, civic dialogue and creativity and she brings her work to a variety of settings to create dances that span age, health, and cultural spectrums. After viewing the classes we will have a conversation with the founder and master teaching artist Margot Greenlee. Margot’s approach is based on 20 years of experience in community arts engagement as a solo artist and as a professional dancer. Join us for discussions that focus on pedagogy and its application to your own practice. Please join us even if you have not had the opportunity to watch the whole lesson. Watch the Intervisitation Closed captions included no audio description or ASL Learn more about Margot and BodyWise Dance on their website: https://www.bodywisedance.com

This session has ASL interpretation and CART Captioning. Krishna Christine Washburn is the director and teacher of Dark Room Ballet, a pre-professional dance curriculum designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people, the only course of its kind in the English-speaking world. She holds a Master’s of Education from Hunter College and special certification through the American College of Sports Medicine, and has been a movement teacher for blind and visually impaired people of all ages for many years. The session will highlight stories from Krishna’s experience as a dance educator and performer with a special focus on curriculum and lesson plans for blind and visually impaired dancers. Time for questions and discussion is included in the hour. Dark Room Ballet: https://darkroomballet.com/ Movement Research: [Virtual] Dark Room Ballet: Introductory Level Class | Movement Research Dark Room Ballet Facebook: Log In or Sign Up to View The Telephone Film: https://telephonefilm.com/

This session has ASL interpretation and CART Captioning. This is a Q&A for a pre-recorded, intervisitation into the teen and young adult classroom of REVolutions dance. They are a not-for-profit company founded in 2005 in the Tampa Bay Area. They started offering community outreach through classes and summer camps in 2010. Please view the recording on your own time. After viewing the classes we will have a conversation and debrief with the artistic director and educator Dwayne Scheuneman. Dwayne has danced and taught professionally for companies such as AXIS. Join us for discussions that focus on pedagogy and its application to your own practice, while taking on this opportunity to partake in the stories of REVolutions dancers and educators. Please join us even if you have not had the opportunity to watch the whole lesson. Link to the intervisitation: Closed captions included no audio description Learn more about REVolutions Dance on their website- https://www.revdance.org/

This session has ASL interpretation and CART Captioning. Dancer Tiffany Geigel and dance educator Rachel McCaulsky will share their stories as dance students, educators and performers and their meeting at a NYC school for children with disabilities. Tiffany is a dancer, model, actress and activist. Born with Jacob Levin Syndrome, Tiffany began her dance training at age 3 and is currently a Principal Dancer with Heidi Latsky Dance. Rachel McCaulsky is a former member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispanico and Dallas Black and is currently a NYC Dance Educator and Administrator working with students with severe to profound disabilities. Tiffany’s virtual visit to Rachel’s school last spring was a watershed moment for students, teachers and family members at PS 396K. Short video clips of Tiffany in performance and her visit to Rachel’s school will be shared. Time for questions and discussion is included in the hour.

Teaching Integrated Dance

Featuring Mary Verdi-Fletcher, Sara Lawrence-Sucato, and Mark Tomasic.

ReelAbilities Film Discussion

Films courtesy ReelAbilities Film Festival, dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities. These film discussions were presented as part of the 2020 NDEO Conference and with the support of the Theresa Foundation.

Featuring April Fan (director) and Kitty Lunn of Dancing on Wheels; Alice Sheppard and Laural Lawson of Revel in Your Body; and Jarell Sullivan and Ryan Mayers (director) of JMAXX and the Universal Language Films in discussion: Dancing on Wheels - Kitty Lunn, a paraplegic dancer has been teaching students with disabilities for the past thirty years Jaxx and the Universal Language - Jarell is a teenager with autism who has learned to use hip-hop dance as a means to communicate his true self to the world. Revel in Your Body - A short film experience of the joy of flight featuring disabled dancers Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson.

Featuring Heidi Latsky from Heidi Latsky Dance, Mark Travis Rivera from AXIS Dance Company, Dr. Christopher Boulton from University of Tampa, Dwayne Schneuman from REVolutions Dance and Douglas Scott from Full Radius Dance. Films in discussion: Solo Flight Ada30 and We Are Right Here - Heidi Latsky Company in performance The Gift of (Impermanence) - AXIS Dance Company in performance Every Body Dances - a short documentary sharing the rehearsal and performance process of a dance program for older adults Reemerge - Full Radius Dance in performance.

Teaching Online Series

Featuring Sydney Erlikh. As studios and schools practice social distancing dance teachers now need to create virtual classes that continue to support their communities from a distance. Dance is an opportunity to keep people moving while at home, but teachers now face new challenges on how to best support students with disabilities through remote learning. This webinar will propose best practices, consider remote accommodations, and explore the opportunities of virtual dance to examine disability dance. Finally, we will share the different tools the community is using. This workshop is created with K-12 educators in mind but everyone is welcome to join and consider the accessibility of virtual dance.