Dancecast – Details, episodes & analysis

Disability Belongs in Dance

In 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.

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.