Aug 15, 2016
Keshet Center for the Arts hosts the Southwestern/Mountain States Regional Convening on Friday, September 9, 2016, from 8:30am to 4:00pm. This unprecedented event is a follow-up to AXIS Dance Company’s National Convening on Future of Physically Integrated Dance in the USA in May. The Envisioning Inclusive Dance convening will consist of interactive conversation, discussing our region’s existing resources and expertise, and future action items for enhanced opportunities in the field of integrated dance.
The convening is free, however registration is required. Registration opens Monday, August 15, at KeshetArts.org.
Coming together to share regional resources and brainstorm about the future of serving people with disabilities through dance, is truly exciting.
~Shira Greenberg, Founder & Artistic Director of Keshet
Who Sould Attend This Convening?
Co-facilitated by AXIS Dance Company, DanceAbility International and Keshet Dance, Envisioning Inclusive Dance is open to dancers with and without disabilities, dance companies, presenters, funders, advocacy organizations, special needs educators, state accessibility coordinators, disability rights activists, professionals in the fields of rehabilitation, expressive therapies, medical providers and others who are working in or interested in integrated dance in the southwest and mountain states region – but all are welcome.
AXIS launched this initiative to galvanize and activate the inclusive dance community with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and a strong partnership with Dance/USA. Keshet is a wonderful partner given their extraordinary work and growing national profile.
~Judith Smith, Founder & Artistic Director of AXIS Dance Company
Join us for a Dance Performance and Workshop!
On Friday, September 9th at 7:00pm DanceAbility International will perform the New Mexico premiere of “Don’t Leave Me.” This performance weaves dance, music, and architecture in a celebration of equality and empowerment, and features professional dancers with and without disabilities. This modern dance performance was created by the DanceAbility International dance company in collaboration with the University of Oregon, School of Architecture and Allied Arts, which designed the set structures.
“Don’t Leave Me” examines a spectrum of relationships between people and spaces, from how orientations and structures can constrict to how architecture can open opportunities for movement by responding to specific situation and inhabitants. The show explores how we are all dependent on each other and how space determines action and vice versa. The dancers use the ever-changing set design as apparel, as furniture, and as architecture. The human and architectural bodies act as a symbiotic community.
“During a rehearsal, one of the dancers was high up on the designed structure and felt it start to shake. She immediately called out to the dancers below her: “Don’t leave me!” This became the title of the piece. It speaks to our interdependence, and also the DanceAbility method belief that nobody should be left out or left behind.”
~Sara Zolbrod, Managing Director of DanceAbility International
Directors are Alito Alessi (choreography and space design) and Frances Bronet (space design). Alessi is a Guggenheim Fellow for his choreography and dance pedagogy achievements with the DanceAbility method. He is known internationally for connecting people of all disabilities and abilities into dance, both at a recreational level and in critically acclaimed choreography. Bronet has designed with several nationally significant choreographers, and as Dean of the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts supported the Adaptive Athletes section of the Product Design Program. She is the Provost at Illinois Institute of Technology. This project is made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Performing Arts.
On Saturday, September 10th, a Master Class and Workshop by DanceAbility International Artistic Director, Alito Alessi, will be held from 12:30pm – 6:30pm to allow convening attendees and the general public the opportunity to experience mixed-abilities dance and to train people in the method. Register at KeshetArts.org.
About Keshet (Albuquerque, NM)
Established in 1996, Keshet’s mission is to inspire and unite community by fostering unlimited possibilities through dance, mentorship and a creative space for the arts. In 2012, Keshet launched the Keshet Ideas and Innovation Center to support New Mexico arts entrepreneurs through multiple tracks of programming. In August 2013, Keshet formally opened the Keshet Center for the Arts, located at 4121 Cutler Ave NE, home to Keshet Dance Company and Keshet’s education and outreach programming (KLab). For more information visit Keshet Dance Company.
About AXIS Dance Company (Oakland, CA)
AXIS Dance Company exists to change the face of dance and disability. Based in Oakland, CA, AXIS is one of the world’s most acclaimed and innovative ensembles of performers with and without disabilities. Under the Artistic Direction of Judith Smith, the Company has collaborated with leading contemporary choreographers and composers. AXIS has toured nationwide as well as internationally. AXIS was featured twice on FOX TV’s So You Think You Can Dance and has been honored with seven Isadora Duncan Dance Awards. Through our education and outreach program, Dance Access, thousands of children and adults of all ages and abilities are inspired to dance each year. For more information visit AXIS Dance Company.
About DanceAbility International (Eugene, OR)
DanceAbility International’s mission is to create opportunities for people with and without disabilities to dance and move together. Their vision is that through dance and movement, people from very diverse backgrounds experience the art of being together. DanceAbility International’s acclaimed mixed-abilities dance method has traveled the world, decreasing prejudice and dissolving misconceptions about diversity in the field of dance. The DanceAbility method began forming in 1988. The material is drawn from the group present in a given situation and isolates no one. The method supports self-empowerment by offering ways that all individuals can participate fully in expressing their creative choices, including respecting one’s own limits. Following one’s own interest and desire, and applying that to the benefit of one’s community is a basic DanceAbility teaching. For more information visit DanceAbility International.