Dancecast

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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 – coming soon!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 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 – coming soon!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 I spoke with Kat Rampackova who is choreographer, performer and dance activist. Kat's latest work Mirage will premiere at the X Dance Festival. 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.To see Kat's latest choreography Mirage, register here to receive a free link for the live streaming. Also check out other offerings at the X Dance Festival.

I have been staying back in Finland since last December and I'm helping to produce an awesome festival, X Dance Festival, which is happening mostly online. In the coming episodes I will be featuring performances, panelists and teachers who are part of the festival. Here is the festival website, go check the awesome offerings out: http://danceabilityfinland.com/kaaos/festivals-2.htmlIn this episode I spoke with Maija Nurmio and Teemu Mäki about their collaborative work Éliane which is based on the French composer Éliane Radique. You can see Éliane live, for 10 people, or live streamed. Get your FREE tickets here: https://tinyurl.com/kz66pjemand you can find more information about each one of them, by clicking their name Éliane Radigue, Teemu Mäki and Maija Nurmio.

Discussing Disability in Dance

Turning Setbacks into Comebacks

Interview with Karen Daly; Being Seen as A Dancer

Interview with Roman Baca; Dancing the Veteran Experience

Interview with Karenne Koo: There's No Such Thing As "We Can't Do Something"

Interview with Michaela Knox: Expanding the Dance Community

Interview with Veronica DeWitt and Olivia O'Hare. A Philosophy of Inclusion.

Interview with Ginger Lane: “It Comes Down to Loving Movement”

Interview with Sally Davison; The Language of the Body is the Oldest Language.

Interview with Aaron Wheeler-Kay; Access is Good for Everybody

Dance Applied to Real Life; Interview with Margot Greenlee

Interview with Connie Vandarakis: Experiencing the Democracy of Dance

Interview with Jana Meszaros; Promoting Freedom and Equality

Interview with India Harville: Exploring Her Own Access and Excellence

Maylis was visiting me here in the US after dancing and studying with Axis Dance Co in their annual summer intensive. While we were finishing our lunch we chatted about her work and future plans. Maylis shared her visions for her next choreographies and where she is currently with her own work. Thank you Maylis for being so open and willing to share.

Choreography for An Arm and A Half; Interview with Julie Crothers.

Interview with Gretchen Pick

Rethinking Assistive Technologies

In this episode I spoke with the founder of REvolutions dance Dwayne Scheuneman about his career in integrated dance.

In Between Dance and Musical Theater: interview with Meredith Aleigha Wells about her career in dance and musical theatre.