Access is a Practice: Dance and Disability Studies
Course Description
Summary
Accessibility describes the practice of freeing a space or an event so it might be visited by more people in more ways than one could ever presume at the outset. In this course, we will explore the litany of practices that allow more people (and in particular, disabled, mad, and chronically ill people) into all spheres of public life with a particular focus on performance events.
Course topics will include audio description techniques for live performance, verbal description for visual works, working with captioning and language interpretation, and surveying spaces for light, sound, fragrance, and pathway clearance. We will think together about the politics of access audits, the utility and constraints of checklists, and the potential conflicts of access needs. Ultimately, we will focus on the intimacy of access, the necessary primacy of lived experience, and the importance of remaining nimble and open to evolving our practices and ideas.
Students will workshop short performance studies that incorporate various access practices learned in class. Students will be expected to create work independently and collaboratively, share their studies with classmates, and respond to others’ work with curiosity and respect.
Learning Outcomes
- develop skills to increase accessibility at performance events
- analyze events to imagine and anticipate access capacity and potential requests
- think with the body and with Disability Studies to move theory into practice
- move through the stages of event management: prepare, content, practice, present, and reflect
- develop skills around collaboration, both in project creation and in feedback and critique
Prerequisites
This class is open to students with prior experience in dance, performance, cultural studies, or public action. Please email the faculty with a short paragraph detailing your prior experience and your curiosity regarding accessibility/access practice.
Please contact the faculty member : londsreuter1@bennington.edu