The
Arts Access Dance Program offers participants a way to express themselves
through movement and dance.
As with the other programs, the goal here is to allow the participants
with disabilities to express themselves fully through art, in this
case, the art of dance.
Drawing on the principle of an artist assisting another artist,
Arts Access in partnership with the Roxey Ballet Company facilitates the dance program with professional dancers. These dedicated and talented
dance professionals bring together both disabled and able-bodied
dancers to create choreographic works, study dance, and perform
in company presentations. They are fellow artists, fellow dancers
that understand the soul of a dancer, and do whatever is necessary
to allow that soul to be expressed.
A
variety of music is used and participants are allowed to create
their own movements by themselves or with assistants. In addition
to performing, students act as choreographers and direct able-bodied
dancers.
Rather than enforcing existing dance vocabulary that would not
make sense in the context of a wheelchair dance arena, new vocabulary
and methodologies are constantly being devised and revised to allow
participants to experience the joy of expression through dance.
One such innovation is the use of computer-aided choreography, allowing
the dancers with disabilities to design and choreograph dance pieces
on computer, and then ultimately see them brought to life in full
stage productions.
|