Ep 83: Disabled Dancers

  Today’s episode is all about disabled dancers with India Harville, an African American queer disabled femme teacher, somatic bodyworker, dancer, instructor, activist, and educator. You’ll hear India talk about how she became involved in dance and what it means to her, what accessed centered movement is and how it’s rooted in disability justice, and the connections between bodywork, dance, and healing. Please note our conversation took place in January of 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic. Transcript [Google doc]     [PDF]   About IMAGE OF MIXED ABILITIES DANCE TEACHER INDIA HARVILLE. SHE IS AFRICAN-AMERICAN WITH HAIR IN LOCKS, WEARING ALL BLACK, SITTING ON THE FLOOR WITH HER HANDS CLASPED, SMILING AT THE CAMERA.   India Harville is an African American queer disabled femme teacher, somatic bodyworker, dancer/dance instructor, performance artist, social justice activist, and educator dedicated to facilitating people in personal and collective healing and transformation.   India has over 17 years experience in the fields of embodiment via massage, somatics, and dance. India is trained in several massage/somatic modalities including Swedish, Deep Tissue, Neuromuscular Therapy, Shiatsu, Thai,  and Rosen Method Bodywork.  India has studied several forms of dance including NIA, Zumba, KiVo, Dancing Freedom, DanceAbility, and American DanceWheels wheelchair ballroom dance. India has over 15 years teaching experience. India’s eclectic toolkit makes her very adept in helping people deepen their connection to themselves and to helping people find more pleasure and ease in their lives. India holds a BA in health psychology from New College of Florida and a MA in Integrative Medicine from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).   India has received many awards/fellowships including the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship Award to conduct research on the body’s response to stress in Dusseldorf Germany, three scholarships/residencies to study/teach/perform mixed abilities dance, including one with Sins Invalid in Berkeley California, and has conducted research at The Touch Research Institute in Miami Florida, University of California San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco State, and Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley California. India has had health challenges since infancy, but she did not adopt a politicized disabled identity until 2011. In the last seven years her health conditions have been her greatest teacher. Her personal journey with disability deeply informs how she works with others. India is originally from Michigan, but considers herself a Bay Area convert after living here for over a decade.  When India is not working with clients, she enjoys time in nature, reading, and meditation. Website: http://lovingtheskinyouarein.com/   Support Disability Media and Culture DONATE to the Disability Visibility Project®   Credits Alice Wong, Writer, Audio Producer, Host Cheryl Green, Text Transcript Lateef McLeod, Introduction Mike Mort, Artwork Theme Music (used with permission of artist) Song: “Hard Out Here for A Gimp” Album: NO BIG DEAL Artist: Wheelchair Sports Camp Music “Loca salsa 2” by zagi2, March 3, 2015 (Licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license CC BY-NC 3.0) Sounds “VOCODER countdown” by Jack_Master. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License. “8 Bit Beeping Computer Sounds” by sheepfilms. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons 0 License.