Translations – A Dance for the NonVisual Senses

Authors

  • Carolina Bergonzoni Simon Fraser University
  • Naomi Brand

Abstract

Translations is a collaborative performance event based on questions of accessibility, inclusion and the potential of the dancing body to move us. Led by Vancouver’s All Bodies Dance Project in collaboration with VocalEye, the project brings together dancers with and without disabilities alongside consultants from the blind community. The project asks questions of ultimate importance and relevance to the accessibility of Canadian performing arts. During the process, we investigate the aesthetics of accessibility, built on difference as an artistic tool, and conceived of inclusion and accessibility as the source of choreography.

This publication is a creative documentation, a collection of images (with image description) and videos of the first two phases of the research process of Translations that shows the often invisible histories of integrated dance, accessibility, and inclusion in dance. We believe in the importance of listing the collaborators that made this project possible, as a way to make visible and prominent the “backgrounded bodies” and “back stage and background word” in dance.

Author Biographies

Carolina Bergonzoni, Simon Fraser University

Carolina Bergonzoni is a dance artist and a PhD student in arts education at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. She holds an MA in comparative media arts from Simon Fraser University and a BA and an MA in philosophy from the University of Bologna. Since 2011, she has been working toward building communities of movers and thinkers. Her work has been published in international journals and presented at different conferences, as well as at dance festivals in Canada, Europe, and the United States. She works with the integrated dance company All Bodies Dance Project.

Naomi Brand

Originally from Toronto, Naomi Brand spent ten years dancing in Calgary before relocating to Vancouver in 2013. She holds both a BA and an MFA from the University of Calgary and is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. As a dancer, choreographer, educator, and writer, Naomi has cultivated a unique artistic practice that spans work with professional dancers to a community-engaged practice with diverse populations. Naomi is the co-founder of All Bodies Dance Project and is a contributing writer with The Dance Current.

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Published

2019-07-01

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2019): Backspace: A Special Issue on Dance Studies

Section

Materials

License

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