Dancecast

Following CuriosityIn this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Veera Suvalo Grimberg, the artistic director of Danskompaniet Spinn in Gothenburg, Sweden. Veera describes her path from her native Finland to building a life in Sweden, where she experienced disability for the first time through teaching in a local cultural school. After seeing Candoco Dance Company perform, she became interested not only in teaching students with disabilities but also creating an inclusive performance group in Sweden, which led to the creation of Danskompaniet Spinn. Over the past 15 years, Danskompaniet Spinn has become a force of inclusive dance in Sweden, with a fulltime company, an accessible space, a commissioning program, and a training program for the dancers. Veera describes how curiosity is a guiding principle of the company.Veera Suvalo Grimberg is the artistic director of Danskompaniet Spinn, as well as a curious choreographer with an interest in forklifts, excavators, and dancing firefighters. She is a self-willed artist of Finnish origin who wants to challenge stereotypes of what dance is and can be. Veera trained as a dancer at the Performing Arts School in Gothenburg and has also studied dance pedagogy. Danskompaniet Spinn is an inclusive dance company based in Gothenburg, Sweden. For the past 15 years, Spinn has been collaborating with guest choreographers and creating work for children and adults. Audio descriptions, tactile objects, and visual supports are some of the methods Spinn is developing for performances and workshops.To learn more, visit danskompanietspinn.se/en.

Building Integrated Dance in DenmarkDanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX.In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Janne Weidinger Kristensen, the Artistic Director of The Association of Integrated Dance in Denmark, or Foreningen for integreret moderne dans I Danmark (FIDM). FIDM is in the process of transitioning from an association to a company, and alongside that change, Janne is hoping to focus more on creative work than administrative work. Janne reflects on how FIDM has struggled to reach members of the community with disabilities because society doesn’t value people with disabilities as artists. Along those lines, FIDM produces a festival in Denmark focused on artists with disabilities, which Janne is hoping to expand in the future.Janne Weidinger Kristensen is a cultural entrepreneur who has worked in integrated contemporary dance in Denmark since 2013. She is the Artistic Director of The Association of Integrated Dance in Denmark / Foreningen for integreret moderne dans I Danmark (FIMD). Janne was educated in the UK at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Prior to this she was an elite gymnast from the age of five. She also works as a body/movement therapist and coach, educated in the Bowen-technique, L.E.P., Body Analysis and Change Catalyst Programme, and in Heartfulness Training by Dr. Stephano Sabetti. Alongside her work with FIMD, she is a board member in Brancherådet for scenekunst I Danmark (the counsel for performing arts in Denmark), an association that works for better rights for dancers in Denmark.To learn more about FIMD, visit www.integrateddance.dk.

The Link Between Dance and HealthDanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX.In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Joseph Jeffers, the CEO of AdviceSupport Knowledge Information (ASKI), a London-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving older individuals from the Global Majority. He reflects on his training and career in dance, and how that led him to working in the non-profit sector. When he started ASKI, he integrated many kinds of dance classes into its programming. He’s committed to spreading a message of health and wellness by creating an atmosphere where people feel comfortable seeking preventative care and asking for support. He also shares some of his findings from his Winston Churchill Fellowship where he went to South Africa to research the link between dance and health. He’s particularly interested in how institutionalized racism impacts Black bodies.Joseph Jeffers is the Chief Executive Officer of Advice Support Knowledge Information (ASKI), a London-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving older individuals from the Global Majority. ASKI provides a comprehensive range of services aimed at enhancing the well-being and social engagement of its clients. In 2024, ASKI was awarded the Kings Award for Voluntary Service.Joseph's journey began with a passion for dance, which he pursued from childhood through to a formal degree in Dance in 1985. His professional career as a dancer took him to more than 65 countries, enriching his understanding of cultural expressions and movement. Recognizing the transformative power of dance, ASKI incorporates dance into its programs to combat social isolation among older adults, currently serving more than 85 individuals aged 68 to 90 on a weekly basis.In addition to his role at ASKI, Joseph has been awarded a prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship. This opportunity has taken him to South Africa, where he explored innovative approaches to movement and social connection. Later this year, he will complete the Fellowship in the Caribbean, focusing on the relationship between movement and isolation in older bodies.Joseph is in the final year of an MA in Dance: Participation, Communities, and Activism from The London Contemporary Dance School, further solidifying his commitment to using dance as a tool for community engagement and social change. His multifaceted experience and dedication to improving the lives of older individuals exemplifies his leadership in the non-profit sector.https://www.aski.org.uk

Embedded in Community DanceDanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX.In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Bronwen Wilson Rashad, a UK-based dance artist who has worked within several different communities. Bronwen shares how she was part of Julie Liebel's group which had the goal of accommodating her artistic practice while parenting, and how it eventually led her to work with a perinatal mental health team running creative sessions for babies and parents. She is also a member of Molly No-Mates, a traditional Morris folk dance group performed by drag kings, as the word “molly” is associated with queer people. Bronwen describes how she emphasizes process over product when working in community dance settings, prioritizing getting people comfortable in their bodies and finding expression through movement.Bronwen Wilson Rashad is a dance artist based in the Forest of Dean in the UK. She has a background in contemporary dance and social anthropology. Having grown up outside the UK, with Welsh and English heritage, her practice reflects her interests in belonging, place, and folk culture. She works to create spaces where people can co-create new folk traditions that say something about where we are now. Over the past four years, she has led the Dancing the Parenting project, working with women and babies who are being cared for by the Perinatal Mental Health Team in South Wales. She is also a member of the drag king folk dance group Molly No-Mates. She is currently investigating how she can help a community find its dance.To learn more, visit www.bronwenwilsonrashad.com.

Rhythms of Resilience – A Story of Dance and Determination is an uplifting tale about a young boy from the Eastern Cape who discovers his passion for dance in new and unexpected ways.In a family where rhythm and joy are a part of everyday life, Tumi grows up surrounded by music and movement. When he loses his hearing, Tumi learns to connect with music in a new way—through vibrations. With the support of his family and a school where he learns sign language, he finds a renewed connection to dance, movement, and community.Perfect for young readers and families, Rhythms of Resilience is a heartfelt celebration of creativity, determination, and the strength of community. Tumi’s story encourages readers to embrace new possibilities and ways we can express ourselves.Narrated by Joseph Tebandeke. Funded by The Pollinator Project for Tractus Art. Visit www.tractusart.com to learn more about this exciting book project and other Tractus Art projects.   

Welcome to Nature in Motion, a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all.Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience the benefits of being in nature.These audio scores are an invitation. You can listen, move, reflect, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds and sensations they bring. There is no right or wrong way to engage—whether you choose to dance, draw, write, or just be present.Through this project, we hope to highlight the possibilities of accessing nature near cities, enhance well-being and quality of life, and promote awareness and understanding of diverse experiences in outdoor spaces.Take a moment, listen, and let yourself move—however feels right for you.These scores were created as part of the international collaborations coursework on the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School.  All facilitators leading these scores are current students on the course. 

Welcome to Nature in Motion, a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all.Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience the benefits of being in nature.These audio scores are an invitation. You can listen, move, reflect, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds and sensations they bring. There is no right or wrong way to engage—whether you choose to dance, draw, write, or just be present.Through this project, we hope to highlight the possibilities of accessing nature near cities, enhance well-being and quality of life, and promote awareness and understanding of diverse experiences in outdoor spaces.Take a moment, listen, and let yourself move—however feels right for you.These scores were created as part of the international collaborations coursework on the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School.  All facilitators leading these scores are current students on the course. 

Welcome to Nature in Motion, a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all.Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience the benefits of being in nature.These audio scores are an invitation. You can listen, move, reflect, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds and sensations they bring. There is no right or wrong way to engage—whether you choose to dance, draw, write, or just be present.Through this project, we hope to highlight the possibilities of accessing nature near cities, enhance well-being and quality of life, and promote awareness and understanding of diverse experiences in outdoor spaces.Take a moment, listen, and let yourself move—however feels right for you.These scores were created as part of the international collaborations coursework on the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School.  All facilitators leading these scores are current students on the course. 

Welcome to Nature in Motion, a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all.Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience the benefits of being in nature.These audio scores are an invitation. You can listen, move, reflect, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds and sensations they bring. There is no right or wrong way to engage—whether you choose to dance, draw, write, or just be present.Through this project, we hope to highlight the possibilities of accessing nature near cities, enhance well-being and quality of life, and promote awareness and understanding of diverse experiences in outdoor spaces.Take a moment, listen, and let yourself move—however feels right for you.These scores were created as part of the international collaborations coursework on the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School.  All facilitators leading these scores are current students on the course. 

Welcome to Nature in Motion, a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all.Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience the benefits of being in nature.These audio scores are an invitation. You can listen, move, reflect, or simply immerse yourself in the sounds and sensations they bring. There is no right or wrong way to engage—whether you choose to dance, draw, write, or just be present.Through this project, we hope to highlight the possibilities of accessing nature near cities, enhance well-being and quality of life, and promote awareness and understanding of diverse experiences in outdoor spaces.Take a moment, listen, and let yourself move—however feels right for you.These scores were created as part of the international collaborations coursework on the MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism at London Contemporary Dance School.  All facilitators leading these scores are current students on the course. 

Disability Belongs in DanceIn this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Melissa van Wijk, founder and director of Born Dancing, a nonprofit based in New York City that creates performances featuring dancers with and without disabilities, orchestrates dance education opportunities for children with disabilities, and supports the entry of people with disabilities into the dance field. She shares how one day on a train in Manhattan she realized she had never been in a dance class with a person who uses a wheelchair or who is Deaf. It catalyzed an interest in integrating disability, in both performance and education spaces, that would reshape her life. She believes we should be teaching all students that disability belongs in dance.Melissa van Wijk was born and raised in The Netherlands where she attended Dansakademie Brabant and performed with the Elisabeth Dancers and Dans Studio Gerda Zaandam. She is the founder and director of Born Dancing andserves as choreographer for their original dance productionsand as lead dance educator for their education programs. She holds five NYS Teaching Certifications and has taught dance at NYC Public Schools in all five boroughs, working primarily in special education. Melissa has choreographed performances at The Cunningham Studio and Mulberry Street Theater among others. She is a Doctoral Candidate working on her dissertation research in Dance Education at Columbia University Teachers College. Previously Melissa worked as a Teaching Artist for New York City Ballet and Young Audiences. Melissa served as  program director of an infant movement program at Gymtime/York Avenue Preschool and currently works as a SEIT (Special Education Itinerant Teacher) and Early Intervention Specialist in New York City. To learn more about Born Dancing, visit www.borndancing.org.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Gladys Agulhas, a multi-award-winning independent dance artist, choreographer and dance facilitator who has pioneered inclusive dance practices in South Africa. Gladys shares her early love of dance and social work during apartheid and how an introduction to Adam Benjamin's " Table stories" created for Candoco Dance Company changed her trajectory. She describes how she learned from the dancers with disabilities themselves working in relative isolation in South Africa where disability carried stigma and basic access was not met. She created her own ways of working with blind and Deaf artists and people with other disabilities, as well as parents of children with disabilities and how they can find self-care through dance. She reflects on the state of inclusive dance in South Africa.Gladys Agulhas has more than three decades of experience in Johannesburg thinking of the body as a visual, tactile, spatial, emotional and healing mechanism and auditory medium. Her integrated dance studies started with renowned teacher Adam Benjamin. She has a long history of involvement in dance in education and started The Foundation of Community Arts in Eldorado Park, a platform where community families can access and experience the excellence and transformative elements of the performance arts through active participation and international collaboration. Gladys is a member of various research networking groups that help marginalized community members, especially persons living with disabilities and senior citizens. She is the founder of former Agulhas Theatre Works – Inclusive Contemporary Dance Company which presented work locally and internationally.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews disabled dance artist and researcher Kate Marsh. Based in the UK, Kate shares her perspective as an assistant professor at Coventry University. She reflects on how the discourse on disability has evolved during her career, from breaking literal barriers to breaking attitudinal barriers, and yet how today’s dance education landscape is experiencing economic cuts. She discusses her personal trajectory and how the pipeline she traversed is the epitome of a successful career in dance, and yet how so much of success in dance is based on luck, especially for those dancers with disabilities. She questions what institutions can learn from the bespoke training that disabled dancers have been giving themselves for a long time.Kate Marsh is a disabled dance artist and researcher with more than 20 years of experience in performing, teaching, making, and researching dance. Her interests are centered around perceptions of the body in the arts and notions of corporeal aesthetics. Specifically, she is interested in each of our lived experiences of our bodies, and how this does (or doesn’t) inform our artistic practice. Her practice-research focuses on leadership in the context of dance and disability and draws strongly on the voices of artists to interrogate questions around notions of leadership, perceptions and the body. Kate’s work is strongly fed by co-design and co-facilitation, where we all arrive into our practice from our own place and pace, and this informs the ways we work together, privileging all experiences and ways of being, and prioritizing a playful, accessible and generative environment. 

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews dance artist Elisabeth Motley, a New York City-based choreographer, scholar, and teacher whose work is concerned with disability as a framework for creative practice. Elisabeth describes how her journey began in rigorous normative dance practice and how she came to disability by way of a recurring brain disease that impacts her physical and cognitive abilities. Her pedagogy revolves around her own experience and her dreams of a curriculum that is not fixed and that centers disabled students. She pushes boundaries as a teacher with a disability in higher education and works in ways that refuse the system.Elisabeth Motley has a PhD from University of Roehampton in Dance Studies focusing on choreography and disability dance, an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College, and a BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School. Elisabeth is a 2025 Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) Artist in Residence. She has been a 2023 Movement Research Access. Movement. Play. (AMP) Artist in Residence, a 2019-2021 Movement Research Artist in Residence, a 2020 & 2021 Dance/NYC Disability. Dance. Artistry. Dance and Social Justice Fellow and is a recipient of the 2018-2019 Fulbright US-UK Scholar Award. Elisabeth is the co-creator of Crip Movement Lab (co-created with Kayla Hamilton), a pedagogical framework centering cross-disability accessible movement practice. Her writing has been published in Dance Chronicle and Choreographic Practices Journal.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews dance artist Devin Hill. Devin describes their experience growing up with a rare eye condition and how it affected their motor skills. Their mother put them in dance to help with balance and coordination. Devin shares their experience pursuing dance in college and learning to be an advocate for themself as a dancer with a disability by communicating their needs. They share how change often starts with just having people with disabilities be in the room. Devin reflects on their undergraduate experience and how institutions need to start taking responsibility for making their dance programs accessible and available to students with disabilities. As Devin has become a teacher and taken on leadership roles, they have been empowered by breaking down ableism in dance and giving others an opportunity to directly express what they need.This episode is part of a series interviewing institutions with inclusive dance programs and individuals who identify as disabled and have experienced formal dance education as either students or teachers. This series is part of Silva’s ongoing work as the director of Art Spark Texas’ dance program. This year, she is continuing the multi-year community-engaged research project, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, that explores disability-centered accessibility in dance education and how we can create barrier-free dance education for students with disabilities in the US.Devin Hill is a graduate from the University of Central Oklahoma with a BFA in Dance Performance. Their love of dance began at the age of three and has lasted more than 20 years. Devin set sights on dance as a career during their time at Collin College in Plano, TX.  While at Collin College, they were exposed to jazz, ballet, modern, hip hop, tap, African, improvisation, and Latin ballroom. Devin has had the opportunity of working with Christopher K. Morgan, William “Bill” Evans, Clarence Brooks, Brandon Fink, Hannah Baumgarden, Jeremy Duvall, Gregg Russell, Lachlan McCarthy, Kristin McQuaid, and Cat Cogliandro. They were a member of the 2015-2016 award-winning Kaleidoscope Dance Company. Since graduating from UCO, they have continued to further their knowledge of dance by performing, choreographing, teaching, and participating in intensives and workshops across the US. In 2018, Devin had the honor of performing with Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. They were also a cast member on the hit Facebook Watch series “Dance with Nia.” Devin currently resides in Washington D.C. and New York City, where they perform and educate as a member of catastrophe! Dance Company, ReVision Dance Company, and Kinetic Light. Devin also serves as a board member for Feel The Beat and is an educational specialist for Bodywise Dance. Devin strives to use their artistry to create a more safe, equitable, and accessible dance industry for everyone.

The Value of Studying DanceDanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX.In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Jasmiina Sipilä, who works as a leading teacher in the dance department of Vocational College Live, where they offer the only professional dance degree in Finland for dancers with special needs. The professional degree in dance is aimed for students with special needs, which means these dance students need individual support, modifications, and extra guidance in their studies and working life. The definition of special needs is used in this interview as an umbrella term to mean students who are neurodivergent, have developmental disabilities, have mental health challenges, or have different bodies and motor functions.  Jasmiina describes how, in the degree, the students focus on contemporary dance, cooperation, somatic skills, performing, choreographing, and inclusive dance theory, as well as curriculum in dance practice and theory. The students’ degree has many applications after graduation, from dancing professionally to working in the community with different populations.This episode is part of a series interviewing institutions with inclusive dance programs and individuals who identify as disabled and have experienced formal dance education as either students or teachers. This series is part of Silva’s ongoing work as the director of Art Spark Texas’ dance program. This year, she is continuing the multi-year community-engaged research project, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, that explores disability-centered accessibility in dance education and how we can create barrier-free dance education for students with disabilities in the US.Jasmiina Sipilä is a dancer (BA Hons in Contemporary Dance, Trinity Laban, City University of London), a dance teacher (Master of Dance, University of the Arts, Helsinki), and a special education teacher (professional teacher training college, Haaga-Helia, Helsinki). She has worked widely for 18 years as a dancer, choreographer and teacher in Finland and Europe. Jasmiina loves exploring inclusive dance practice and its possibilities in improvisation and somatic work.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Rhona Coughlan, the artistic director of Inclusive Dance Cork in Cork, Ireland, along with project coordinator Dr. Kaylie Streit. Inclusive Dance Cork is a professional dance training program for people with and without disabilities who want to engage with contemporary inclusive dance. This program is based at Dance Cork Firkin Crane and is the only accredited program of its kind in the Republic of Ireland.Rhona shares her empowering entrance into dance via co-founding Ireland’s first inclusive dance company, and Kaylie shares how her background as a music teacher led her to think about inclusive practices in the arts. Rhona describes the breadth of Inclusive Dance Cork’s programming and how it is made possible through strong community partnerships, how the program design provides person-centered access, and how her ultimate goal is to never have a person go into a dance class and feel excluded ever again.This episode is part of a series interviewing institutions with inclusive dance programs and individuals who identify as disabled and have experienced formal dance education as either students or teachers. This series is part of Silva’s ongoing work as the director of Art Spark Texas’ dance program. This year, she is continuing the multi-year community-engaged research project, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, that explores disability-centered accessibility in dance education and how we can create barrier-free dance education for students with disabilities in the US.Inclusive Dance Cork is currently spearheaded by artistic director Rhona Coughlan, a dancer, advocate, and a full-time wheelchair user herself. She co-founded the first inclusive dance company in Ireland, Wheels in Motion, in 1994, and co-founded the second, Croí Glan, in 2006. Dr. Kaylie Streit is an educator, musician, and arts and culture researcher. Since recording this podcast, Kaylie has shared news she is leaving her role as project coordinator of Inclusive Dance Cork and has accepted the position of lead strings teacher at Cork City Music College. To learn more about Inclusive Dance Cork, visit dancecorkfirkincrane.ie/inclusive-dance-cork-idc.

Seeking Barrier-Free Dance EducationDanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva Laukkanen is actually the interviewee. She is interviewed by co-worker April Sullivan and Art Spark Texas’ executive director Celia Hughes. This episode is part of a series interviewing institutions with inclusive dance programs and individuals who identify as disabled and have experienced formal dance education as either students or teachers. This series is part of Silva’s ongoing work as the director of Art Spark Texas’ dance program and their multi-year community-engaged research project, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, that explores disability-centered accessibility in dance education and how we can create barrier-free dance education for students with disabilities in the US. Silva shares her dance history and how she was introduced to inclusive dance spaces as a young person, how the disability dance field is behind in terms of education, and how Art Spark Texas’ research project is assessing what existing opportunities are out there and what more needs to be done. Silva Laukkanen is a passionate advocate for inclusive dance, aiming to broaden perceptions of who can dance and where dance happens. These questions led her to create DanceCast in 2016, a podcast spotlighting non-traditional dance artists, and to co-author Breadth of Bodies, Discussing Disability in Dance in 2022, a book featuring interviews with dance artists with disabilities globally. As Director of Integrated Dance at Art Spark Texas, Silva Laukkanen leads bi-annual intensives, performance projects, and monthly classes. In 2020, she co-founded Tractus Art with a colleague from South Africa. Together, they produce videos highlighting artists with disabilities and are working on a children’s book about a dance company founder who is Deaf, set for publication later this year. Silva also collaborates with other inclusive dance companies, providing support in arts administration. Silva holds a BFA from North Karelia College and a postgraduate degree from Trinity Laban Conservatoire. A certified DanceAbility teacher since 2003, she has trained with choreographers and companies like Adam Benjamin, AXIS Dance Company, and Dancing Wheels. Currently, she is pursuing an MA in Dance: Participation, Community, Activism at the London Contemporary Dance School and serves as the board president of Kaaos Company, Finland’s leading inclusive dance company.To learn more, www.artsparkdance.org.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.  

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

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.Purchase your ebook copy on Kindle, Kobo, Scribd, and other platforms.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.

“I Have Terrible Anxiety but I Love Being Onstage” In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews her intern Emily Heath, a dance student at Bennington College. As a young person, Emily reflects on the economic uncertainty of pursuing dance and their desire to learn more entrepreneurial and marketable skills in addition to somatic-based curriculum. Emily reflects on their ongoing experience of anxiety, and how they now feel supported in dance environments but acknowledge that getting a diagnosis and treatment can be a privilege. Their future goals feel tempered by the pandemic, but they describe their interest in exploring digital spaces and developing a movement vocabulary to process emotion. Finally, Emily expresses how showing up with anxiety in dance spaces is an ongoing negotiation.Text by Emmaly WiederholtEmily Heath is a dancer and student at Bennington College. They have studied many different styles for more than 10 years. The work they are doing now is centered around understanding their internal landscape and how dance can become a tool to heal. They are curious about how to make dance accessible to those who may not feel welcome in the dance community for various reasons. They believe that every person and experience has something to teach them and they are excited to learn those things. Check out my collaborator Stance on Dance  which is a 501c3 dance journalism nonprofit that educates the dance community and wider audiences about dance from the perspective of underrepresented voices and access points. To see more about what I do, check out bodyshift.org.Emily Heath's video project about anxiety "Whirlpooling Thoughts" is coming soon. 

Exploring How Performance is ExperiencedIn this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Jess Curtis, an award-winning choreographer, performer, and scholar based in San Francisco and Berlin. Jess reflects on his entrance to dance through skiing and how he was immediately hooked to being onstage. He shares how his career took a turn when he accepted a job in an interdisciplinary nouveau cirque company in France, and how he later established himself in Berlin while still running his company Jess Curtis/Gravity in the Bay Area. A pivotal working relationship with Scottish disability dance artist Claire Cunningham turned Jess’ focus toward integrating access accommodations like sign language interpretation or audio descriptions into performance. This work also informed his PhD, which looked at phenomenologies of perception and how vision is over-utilized in performance.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt Jess Curtis is committed to an art-making practice informed by experimentation, innovation, critical discourse, and social relevance at the intersections of fine art and popular culture. He has created and performed multidisciplinary dance performance throughout the US and Europe with seminal group Contraband, the radical performance collective CORE and the experimental French circus company Cahin-Caha, Cirque Batard. From 1991 to 1998, he co-directed the ground-breaking San Francisco performance venue 848 Community Space with Keith Hennessy and Michael Whitson. In 2000, Jess founded his own trans-continental performance company, Jess Curtis/Gravity, based in Berlin and San Francisco. In 2011 he was presented the prestigious Alpert Award in the Arts for choreography and the Homer Avila Award for innovation in physically diverse performance. Jess is active as a writer, advocate, and community organizer in the fields of contemporary dance and performance, and teaches dance, contact improvisation and interdisciplinary performance for individuals of all abilities throughout the US and Europe. He has been a visiting professor at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of the Arts in Berlin. He holds an MFA in Choreography and a PhD in Performance Studies from the University of California at Davis.To learn more, visit www.jesscurtisgravity.org.Check out my collaborator Stance on Dance  which is a 501c3 dance journalism nonprofit that educates the dance community and wider audiences about dance from the perspective of underrepresented voices and access points. To see more about what I do, check out bodyshift.org.

How Dance is Taught / Daniel Levi-Sanchez. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews the dance educator Daniel Levi-Sanchez. Daniel reflects on his formative years teaching himself street forms as well as eventually receiving more traditional training from the Inner-City Ensemble Theatre and Dance Co., from Juilliard, and from Twyla Tharp herself. Daniel advocates for a teaching style that empowers students instead of isolates them. He muses on how a ballet or jazz class will lose a lot of students if the class is presented in the public schools, or how students who go to a studio often end up dropping out after high school or college. In 2019, Daniel was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and acquired a disability. After successfully completing a dance challenge from an old colleague, Daniel began to revisit dance with a focus on dance teachers with disabilities.Text by Emmaly WiederholtDaniel Levi-Sanchez, from Paterson, New Jersey, received his formal dance training from the Inner-City Ensemble Theatre and Dance Co. and the Juilliard School of Dance. He performed with Twyla Tharp Dance, American Ballet Theatre, and ODC/San Francisco and is a dance educator with a master’s degree in Education from Rutgers University. Daniel has taught ballet and modern dance at Rutgers University, Raritan Valley Community College, and for three years at PS 191, The Paul Robeson School in Crown Heights Brooklyn. In 2019, Daniel was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a neuromuscular disorder brought on by an autoimmune response resulting in permanent disability. Today, Daniel is focusing on his health first, as well as finding ways of remaining involved in the dance community through advocacy for teachers with disabilities, advice for dancers and teachers, writing and testing the limits of what he can and cannot do in the hope of someday being able to teach again. Daniel currently resides in Kingston, Rhode Island.This episode was published in collaboration with Stance on Dance.And more about Silva does at Art Spark Texas check out the dance programs website, bodyshift.org 

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Tebandeke Joseph, an African contemporary dance artist based in Uganda. He shares how athletics led him to contemporary dance, and how he sees dance as an engine for change. Tebandeke aims to change the community perspective on disability through street performances and through the schools. He dreams of eventually opening an accessible dance center with an adjoining library about dance and sports so people with disabilities can have more support and exposure. Tebandeke describes how the village mindset in his country believes dance isn’t valid, and the effects of the pandemic have hurt the existing dance scene even further. He believes a center for dance in Uganda would go a long way to rectifying many of the problems he perceives. Finally, Tebandeke discusses the need for role models because the experience of disability in Africa is much different than in Europe, and more role models would normalize and empower people with disabilities in Uganda.Text written by Emmaly Wiederholt. Tebandeke Joseph practices disability inclusion in Uganda and has set up platforms and projects that make people with and without disabilities in Africa believe in themselves. He believes dance is a language that all can access in an era of post colonialism and decolonization. He has worked in different locations such as the Freiburg contact improvisation festival (Germany 2019), East Africa Nights of Tolerance (Rwanda 2017), Tuzinne Festival Where Human Rights Dance (Uganda 2017 - 2018), Ubumuntu Arts Festival (Rwanda 2018) and Segou’ Art (Mali 2019). As an active choreographer, Tebandeke has created several productions with Candoco Dance Company (United Kingdom), Splash Dance Company (Uganda), Mambya Dance Company and Pamoja Dance Company (Kenya). Tebandeke also runs free workshops in his local communities once a week to promote inclusion in dance. He hopes to share contemporary dance to youth with and without disabilities. It is a passion that fuels him to this day.Joseph has been invited the teach in a festival in Helsingborg Sweden and is currently fundraising money for travel, visa and insurance costs. Any amount and each share helps him reach his goal. Thank you! https://gofund.me/db6b0da4 Check out DanceCasts awesome collaborator Emmaly Wiederholt's work at Stance on DanceAnd more about Silva does at Art Spark Texas check out the dance programs website, bodyshift.orgLink to Joseph Tebandeke's YouTube, is here. 

 In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Magda Kaczmarska, a dancer, researcher, and creative aging teaching artist based in New York City. Magda describes how her path as an immigrant with a background in dance and the sciences shaped her interest in and commitment to community based dance in the field of creative aging.  She revisits how exposure to Dance for PD®, a program by Mark Morris Dance Group for people with Parkinson’s led her to eventually leave her research career in pursuit of an MFA in Dance. An injury during grad school reinforced her career focus to expand access to creative aging for all communities. In NYC, she worked with the company Dances for a Variable Population with whom she supported 100s of diverse older adults in exploring their creative expression through movement. Now, as an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, she is working to expand creative aging programs globally, building programs that support brain health across the life span and allying with communities of people living with dementia to amplify their creative voice. She expands on her belief that aging is a lifelong process, and at any point in our lives, our experience that can be translated into creative expression through movement. She invites us to consider and question how better we can support interconnectedness and meaningful creative expression for all as we age.Text by Emmaly WiederholtMagda Kaczmarska received her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and her BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics from the University of Arizona. Magda has dedicated her career to utilizing the vehicle of dance and movement to amplify and support creative community. Her multidisciplinary work leverages a dual background in neuropharmacology and dance to build bridges between seemingly disparate sectors. Through all her work, she seeks to foster safe, creative, and inclusive spaces for discovery, agency and meaning. She believes all of us possess the ability to harness our creative expression to support building meaningful communities around us. As an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute, Magda builds collaborations to design and expand access to creative aging programs that support brain health across the lifespan.To learn more about Magda’s work, visit magdakaczmarska.com.To read more interesting dance articles visit, stanceondance.comTo learn more about Silva's work at Art Spark Dance visit, bodyshift.org  

Rachel describes how she had always wanted to teach special education, but her path led her on a professional dance track first. She eventually switched careers to public education through the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. To her surprise, her principal (no “s”) requested she teach movement and dance across multiple school sites instead of general education serve as a classroom teacher, so she became a dance educator to students with severe disabilities. That experience restructured how she thought about movement, what movement means to students, and what goals benefit them. The inquiry led Rachel to become passionate about writing dance curriculum that infuses academics and developing creative assessment tools.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt Rachel McCaulsky (MSEL, MST, BFA) is the arts coordinator, remote learning unit coordinator, and movement teacher at P396K, a New York City Department of Education District 75 school servicing students with severe to profound disabilities. She incorporates movement into the school’s curriculum, creating units of study that fuse literacy and social studies with dance. Her movement units have been published multiple times in the NYC Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance. Rachel holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership, a dual master’s degree in Childhood Education and Childhood Special Education, and a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in Dance. She has performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Ailey II, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. You can find Rachel's frog life cycle unit here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZS03Y2q_3yVUwI1nmGkcxl3wSfs-ctLn

Advocating for Inclusive Dance in the Public SchoolsIn this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews New York-based dance educator and advocate Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez. Sandi shares her dance beginnings and describes how she always identified as a teacher, even as she pursued performance opportunities, which directly led to her career as a dance educator in the public schools. She ended up working for 20 years at the first fully inclusive public school in the country, where there was also a robust performing arts program. Sandi reflects on the value of those experiences and how they informed her later work in city-wide efforts to represent dance educators and advocate for students with disabilities. She talks about how she’s staying active in the field post-retirement and adapting to online spaces.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt, founder of Stance On Dance. Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez taught dance to children with special needs in inclusion and self-contained classrooms for more than 20 years at PS 372 in Brooklyn. Recently retired from the classroom, Sandi is the coordinator of the Arnhold Programs for Dance Educators and the Dance Transition Team Leader at the Office of Arts and Special Projects in NYC. She is a professional development facilitator with the Arts for Students with Disabilities Team (NYC), advocacy director for the NYS Dance Education Association and teaches dance for students with disabilities for NDEO. A member of NDEO since 2005, Sandi works with the NDEO Dance and Disabilities Task Force, whose goal is to increase the organization’s capacity to support the dance and disability community. She is co-author (with C. Gallant and D. Duggan) of Dance Education for Diverse Learners: A Special Education Supplement to the Dance Blueprint and has been published in Dance: Current Selected Research Volume 7 and Dance Education in Practice, where she is a member of the editorial board. Sandi was an adjunct professor at Hofstra University from 2008-2018, teaching Dance in Elementary Education. Prior to teaching fulltime, Sandi was the founding artistic director of Soundance Repertory Company (1984-1999), and her choreography has been presented throughout the Northeast.

In this episode he describes how he reluctantly came to dance after learning about it from another wheelchair user, and how he found integrated dance to be radically different than the dances of his culture. Kadar reflects on the therapeutic and social benefits of dance, and how performing boosted his confidence as both a person with a disability and as an immigrant. He shares more about his involvement with an all-wheelchair group that improvises about the environment and accessibility, as well as why he decided to become a member of DanceAbility Finland’s board to promote dance to other disabled immigrants.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.This episode was originally part of X Dance Festival. This episode was published also at Stance on Dance.  

You can see Perch on Tuesday the 8th of June 2021. This performance is donation based and you can register here. Perch is part of the X Dance Festival 2021.  You can find out more about Amy Voris and Katye Coe and about their impressive work in the field of dance and Somatics. 

 In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Tali Wertheim and Hai Cohen, artistic directors of Vertigo Power of Balance, an Israeli based inclusive dance company. Hai describes how he came to dance almost by accident, meeting Tali in a workshop led by Adam Benjamin that culminated in a performance. Tali shares how she and Hai felt that contact improvisation and inclusive dance needed to continue in Israel. They fervently studied Adam Benjamin’s exercises, and within a year Vertigo Power of Balance was born. Tali and Hai speak about how they developed their teacher trainings for one teacher with and one teacher without a disability, as well as their summer intensive programs. They also share the process developing their most recent piece, Shape on Us, choreographed by Sharon Fridman, through a pandemic and war. Hai describes how he was struck by the raw and real way in which Sharon chose to display disability in the piece.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt. You can learn more about Vertigo Power of Balance on this link. This episode was originally recorded for X Dance Festival.This episode is published also at Stance on Dance. Photo by Yoel Levy.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Georgie Goater, a dance artist and pedagogue based in Helsinki, Finland where she moved from Aotearoa (New Zealand). Georgie describes her early attraction to dance as a place of nonverbal communication where she discovered through improvisation that there is no right or wrong. She reflects on her introduction to integrated dance through Touch Compass Dance Company in New Zealand. Later, her path led her to Helsinki, Finland, where she concentrated on pedagogy and immersed herself in the Finnish dance community. Silva and Georgie contemplate the importance and impossibility of acknowledging one’s dance lineage and who shaped them along the way. Finally, Georgie reflects on her experience performing in choreographer Kat Rampackova’s recent work and her hopes for the future.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.  Georgie Goater is a white, non-disabled dance artist and pedagogue from Aotearoa (NZ) based in Helsinki. She gained her MA in Dance Pedagogy from the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2019, and her BA in contemporary dance from Unitec NZ in 2006. Her dance, choreographies and writing stem from collaboration and betweenness, as well as bodily interests in materiality, dreaming, and process-oriented creation. She has had the privilege of working with choreographers in NZ, Finland and the UK, as well as inclusive dance companies Touch Compass and Kaaos Company. She values dialogical practices and the body as a site for shared learning and making.This episode was orginally recorded as part of the X Dance Festival . Learn more about Georgie’s work, visit www.georgiegoater.comThis episode is also published at Stance on Dance.    

Today my episode is with a dance student Ida Mokki who talks about her journey to the dance world and her dreams after graduating in December from Live Vocational College. Ida is teaching with her fellow student two of the Daily Dances that are happening for the first seven mornings (6-12.6.) during the X Dance Festival at 11-11.30am EEST. Check out this awesome promo for the Daily Dances here. This episode is mostly in Finnish."Olen 25-vuotias ja opiskelen Ammattiopisto Livessä viimeistä vuotta tanssijaksi.Rakastan tanssimista, koska sen avulla pystyn tutustumaan itseeni ja siihen mitä kaikkea voin olla. Tanssijana hyödynnän paljon sisäisyyttäni ja tanssin omia tunteitani näkyväksi. Tanssin muodoista eniten lähellä sydäntäni on improvisaatio. " -Ida Mokki     

In this episode I spoke with Kati Raatikainen, choreographer, performance artist, dance and yoga teacher, and a thinker that likes to write. We spoke about Kati's interests and her latest work Kvartetto that will be performed at the X Dance Festival on the Wednesday the 9th and Thursday the 10th of June, Thursdays performance is also being live streamed.  You can get your tickets to Kvartetto here: https://tinyurl.com/kvartettoXDF-2021tickets Here are links to things that Kati was mentioning on the podcast:https://www.erkkajooga.com https://www.facebook.com/erkkajooganvertaiset https://www.valokeilassakoillinen.fi/tapahtuma/koillisesta-koilliseen-osaprojektissa-syntyy-paikallisten-taidetekoja/ http://www.liikekieli.com/tanssitaide-ekososiaalisesti-kestavassa-yhteiskunnassa-1-2020/

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Kat Rampackova, a choreographer, performer, and dance activist based in Barcelona, Spain. Kat shares her journey finding herself as a freelance dance artist after studying theater, contemporary dance, and improvisation across Europe. She is the co-founder of Priestor Súčasného Tanca (PST), a place for developing contemporary dance in her native city Košice in Slovakia. Kat describes PST’s emphasis on access, not elitism, and how that led her into the world of inclusive dance. Her recent piece, Mirage, is a collaboration with Finnish dance company Kaaos and is inspired by the artistic work of Catalan visual artist Joan Miró. Another international project Kat is involved with, Sound in the Silence, takes young people to places of historical significance for educational and artistic workshops. She talks about how learning history and transforming a place through art and dance can be a cathartic experience.Follow Kat on Instagram at @katrampackova.Here are links to her work and to the art space that she co-founded PST.PST - Priestor Sucasneho Tanca: https://www.facebook.com/pst.kosice Here are clips of her previous works, performative-choreographic exposition in collaboration with Sztuka Nowa -theater company based in Warsaw, Poland, dance performance for children Jumika  and inclusive dance performance Body Recognition.This interview was originally part of X Dance Festival.

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Finnish artist/theater director Teemu Mäki and Finnish dance artist Maija Nurmio about their collaborative work Éliane, which is based on the French composer Éliane Radigue's composition L'Île Re-Sonante. Teemu describes why he was drawn to Radique’s experimental music and how a collaboration sprung up between himself and Maija. Maija shares how Radique’s music had a physical effect on her, how they negotiated creating a work that included choreography, film, visuals and Teemu's spoken-word poem that was influenced by the events of a mass murder that happened in Norway a decade ago. The work wrestles with mortality, the meaning of art, and the purpose of experimental music/art-making.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt. You can find more information about each one of them, by clicking their name Éliane Radigue, Teemu Mäki and Maija Nurmio.This episode was originally recorded to be part of X Dance Festival 2021. DanceCast partners with Stance on Dance .

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews her collaborators from the Discussing Disability in Dance Book Project: dancer/writer Emmaly Wiederholt, and visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado. The project has been a four-year process interviewing 25 professional dancers around the world who identify as having a disability. Together, Silva, Emmaly, and Liz discuss the impetus for the project, what themes they've seen emerge, how they've grown in their understanding of disability while working on it, and how they hope the book project serves as a jumping point for other perspectives and conversations regarding disability in dance. To learn more about the Discussing Disability in Dance Book Project, visit http://stanceondance.com/discussing-disability-in-dance/. And to donate to the GoFundMe to cover illustrator, designer, printing and audiobook fees, visit https://gofund.me/1d44d437

Turning Setbacks into Comebacks In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Zazel-Chavah O’Garra, founder and artistic director of ZCO/DANCE PROJECT, a physically integrated dance company in New York City. Zazel shares the story of her benign brain tumor that left her partially paralyzed and how she began her dance company after performing at the Brain Tumor Foundation’s Awareness Day. She also discusses what her company is doing to stay active through the pandemic, how she works to prepare students with disabilities to pursue a career in the arts, and why she urges dance majors in college to pursue double majors. Photo credit to Meri Greene. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.

Interview with Karen Daly; Being Seen as A Dancer In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Karen Daly, a dancer in Eugene, OR with DanceAbility International. Karen shares the story of her entrance into dance in her 40s and some highlights from her career working with DanceAbility. She also discusses the process of creating performances through DanceAbility’s framework, and how the principles of sensation, relationship, time and design serve to augment the performers’ ability to communicate to each other and to the audience. Finally, she reflects on how it’s sometimes still difficult to see herself and be seen as a dancer. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt http://stanceondance.com https://www.bodyshift.org https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Ride-One-Legged-Journey-Self-Acceptance-ebook/dp/B077YB9VVL/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=joy+ride+my+one+legged&qid=1574101046&sr=8-1 https://www.artsparktx.org

Interview with Roman Baca; Dancing the Veteran Experience In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Roman Baca, who is an Iraq War veteran, the director of EXIT12 Dance Company, and an MFA candidate in Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London. He describes his upcoming MFA final performance, which seeks to choreographically share the experiences of five veterans on the lawn at Trinity Laban. He also shares his transition back to civilian life after serving in the Marine Corps, how finding dance again was necessary to overcome his internal anger and frustration after serving in Iraq. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt http://exit12danceco.org https://vimeo.com/312834658 http://www.stanceondance.com http://www.bodyshift.org

There’s No Such Thing As “We Can’t Do Something” In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Karenne Koo, a dance artist in Tucson, AZ, committed to developing and practicing multidisciplinary approaches to encourage and stimulate the art of inclusive dance as an instrument for building community. Here, she discusses her involvement with the Mettler-based dance community and the breadth of her outreach work – from working with survivors of trafficking and abuse, to children with severe medical issues, to low income families, to adults and children with diverse abilities, to horses. She reflects on how her own community makes all the facets of her work possible. https://www.karennekoo.net https://www.dancesequences.com https://www.barbaramettler.org https://www.artsparktx.org https://www.bodyshift.org https://www.stanceondance.com

Interview with Michaela Knox: Expanding the Dance Community In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Michaela Knox, a DanceAbility instructor who recently initiated an inclusive dance program in Maine. Michaela looks back on her early desire to work with people who don’t identify as dancers. She discusses her time working with schoolchildren through the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, and how she eventually felt like she couldn’t effectively teach or integrate students who might be Deaf or non-verbal. Since training in DanceAbility, Michaela shares more about her budding inclusive dance program in Maine and her longer-term goals. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt http://stanceondance.com http://bodyshift.org http://www.sparkdanceprogram.org

A Philosophy of Inclusion In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Olivia O’Hare and Veronica DeWitt, her colleagues at Body Shift in Austin, TX. They each share their entry points into improvisational dance and DanceAbility in particular, as well as discuss the strengths of DanceAbility, its philosophy of inclusion, and how Body Shift was built on that foundation. They also share how they’ve applied the methodology to other areas of their practice like theater and fitness. https://www.bodyshift.org http://stanceondance.com http://stanceondance.com/discussing-disability-in-dance/