School of Dance, Gender Studies/English & Disability Initiative, & Special Education
Amount Awarded: $10,000
Awarded for 2019-20
Title: Disability, Representation and the Arts
Proposed project: a week of discussions, workshops and teacher trainings led by AXIS Dance Company in collaboration with UU faculty from the School of Dance, Department of Special Education and Disability Studies. Utah Presents invited AXIS to perform at Kingsbury in November 2019. Faculty proposing this grant are hoping to flesh out a longer residency, engaging AXIS more fully on campus and in the community. Topics: inclusion, access and artistic representation for individuals with disabilities.
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It is with deep gratitude that I submit our final report and thank the council for awarding funds for the Disability, Representation and the Arts. The initial proposal was a collaboration with colleagues Kristen Paul (Department of Special Education) and Angela Smith (Department of Gender Studies, English and Disability Initiative). We share research and teaching interests that explore various disabilities in relation to accessibility, inclusion, equity, representation and the arts. We took the lead from Brooke Horejsi, Director of Utah Presents, when she shared that Axis Dance Company was to be a featured company performing at Kingsbury Hall in November 2019. Kristen, Angela, Brooke and I, in concert with Robyn Wilks-Dunn, Community Engagement Manager for Utah Presents, began brainstorming a more extended residency for Axis Dance Company, one that would include workshops, discussions, teacher training and presentations across the campus and into the Salt Lake community. This project quickly began including even more people including Kelby McIntyre-Martinez, Assistant Dean for Arts Education & Community Engagement for the College of Fine Arts, MaryAnn Lee, Director of Tanner Dance, and Gretchen Case, Chief in the Program on Medical Ethics and Humanities, all interested in engaging Axis Dance Company more fully on campus and in the community.
Kristen, Angela and I were the co-PI’s on the Dee Grant application. I believe the enthusiasm around this project was shared among many and ultimately, many lives were touched by the events throughout the week. The only unfortunate reality was related to scheduling: early on, Angela made it clear that there was one week during fall 2019 that she and her colleague in Disability Studies would be away. The request was that Axis Dance Company’s residency be scheduled any other time during the semester so that Angela could be involved in the workshops and discussions. Unfortunately, there seemed to be little avoiding this week due to the combination of Axis Dance Company’s availability along with the Utah Presents calendar at Kingsbury Hall. Angela advertised all of the workshop events in her absence and supported additional connections on campus. Angela reports that many individuals, from within and beyond Disability Studies, communicated to her that they attended the Axis performance and were excited and moved by the event.
Here is the summary of the week-long events connected to Axis:
Tues 11/5/19
9:40-11am: Contemporary technique class developing into compositional ideas. There were people either participating or watching from the School of Dance (including about 30 modern dance majors), students from other majors on campus, faculty members from varying programs and community members.
11-11:35am: Conversation with Marc Brew-Director, Axis Dance Company & Gretchen Case-Associate Professor in School of Medicine/Chief in the Program of Medical Ethics and Humanities. Topics: accessibility, disability and representation in relation to the arts. Everyone who participated in the earlier class (either as participant or observer) stayed and were joined by more School of Dance students, faculty and staff (from both Ballet and Modern Dance Programs).
Wed 11/6/19
12:15-1:45pm in MCD #220 – Teacher Training Workshop within the Children’s Teaching Methods Class (in the School of Dance). Pam worked closely to coordinate with Lynne Larsen, regular instructor for this class who is also the Education Director for Repertory Dance Theater in Salt Lake. Many people joined the workshop including modern dance majors, modern dance minors, arts students at the U, community members, School of Dance faculty, and many students and faculty in the Dept of Special Education.
Thurs 11/7/19
10am – Matinee performance at Kingsbury Hall (invited school groups). Robin Wilks-Dunn (Utah Presents’ Education Coordinator) created a sign-up sheet for any student or faculty member on the campus who would like to attend, particularly if they were unable to attend the Fri 11/8, 7:30pm performance.
1-1:45pm, then 2-4pm – Axis first taught a model class off campus with kids at Jordan Valley School (coordinated by Kelby McIntyre-Assistant Dean for Arts Education and Community Engagement in the College of Fine Arts, & Director of Professional Development for the BTSALP) followed by 2-4pm – Axis facilitated discussion and further teacher training. Those who attended: BTSALP instructors, Tanner Dance instructors in their Dancers with Disabilities Program, and Department of Special Education students.
Fri 11/8/19
1-1:50pm Lecture/Discussion - Marc Brew (Director, Axis Dance Company) with Gretchen Case (Associate Professor in School of Medicine, Chief in the Program of Medical Ethics and Humanities) in Gretchen’s class entitled: Layers of Medicine. This was a course with 1st year medical students. Topic discussed: disability culture and the performing arts + the notion of “fixing things” in medical training. Those who attended: medical students in the Layers of Medicine course, and students and faculty from the School of Dance, Department of Special Education and possibly Disability Studies.
7:30pm – Axis Dance Company - Evening performance at Kingsbury Hall (open to the public). This event was coordinated by Utah Presents and not funded by the Dee Grant. All participants involved in the week-long activities were invited to attend.
Sat 11/9/19 – Axis taught two model classes with kids at Tanner Dance in their Disabilities Program. Pam worked closely with Eliza Zenger (alum from the School of Dance’s Modern Dance Program) who is the regular instructor for these classes.
10:30-11:30am ages 8-14 - Tanner Dance’s Disabilities Creative Dance Class
11:30am-12:30pm ages 15 and up – Tanner Dance’s Disabilities Creative Dance Class
Those who joined as observers: Department of Special Education faculty and students, School of Dance faculty and students, community members.
As a reminder, Axis Dance Company is a long-standing, acclaimed dance ensemble based in Oakland, CA that features physically disabled and non-disabled performers. The heart of Axis is two-fold: 1) commissioning, creating, and performing integrated dance -- contemporary dance developed through the collaboration of dancers with and without physical disabilities and 2) engaging communities in discussions and training to promote awareness and create positive change that is promotes inclusion for individuals with various disabilities.
Innovative teaching and interdisciplinary curriculum were the lifeblood of this project. Another goal of the project was to broaden the teaching practices of the interdisciplinary team of PIs and build long-term bridges between all entities for future collaborations. The team of PI’s are all engaged in ongoing teaching projects, coursework development, fieldwork and research on disabilities. For the week-long events, there were life-long lessons to be gained from this project beyond just teaching strategies that could be added to students’ tool kits. Informal feedback from the events of the week was extraordinary, with both students and faculty noting how impactful the week felt.
The budget went as originally proposed: $1200 total to cover the workshops, discussions and events associated with Axis Dance Company during the week of 11/5/19. This amount was paid directly to Utah Presents from the School of Dance. Please see the Financial Report from Glenda Staples for final details.
Attached to this final report, I am attaching a few images from the week. There were many more images taken by Robin Wilks-Dunn from Utah Presents.
We are very grateful to the Council of Dee Fellows for supporting this project, one that involved many partners across the University campus and Salt Lake community. It was incredibly impactful for many as we continue working towards even greater accessibility, inclusion, equity, and representation for all individual voices in our community. Whether a person has an invisible or visible disability, physical or intellectual difference, or does not identify as someone with any disability, the week was hugely transformative. In our original grant proposal, we cited Sue Austin’s words from her Ted Talk. She is an underwater wheelchair diver and artist. She said: “An arts practice can remake one’s identity and transform preconceptions by re-envisioning the familiar.” Thank you again for your generosity and for supporting this project.