2020 continues. At Kinetic Light, there’s a tremendous amount of hope and joy in our daily work—the team seems busier than ever! And there are moments of delicious new collaboration.
Our experiments in home video and distanced choreography are deeply pleasurable and, I think, in line with our usual ground-defying style! Laurel, Michael, Jerron, and I are making new work, supported by Candace, Mariclare, Rachel, and Morgaine. Lit by Michael and Mother Nature, we are in trees, parks, gardens, apartment hallways, decks, and on ramps. And yes, we now know the effects of poison ivy and oak!
This magic is rooted in the hard-earned achievements of the Americans with Disabilities Act activists. Without them, we would not be able to do what we do. Thank you!
Today marks Day #127 in quarantine, isolation, separation? I don’t really know how to name it. But I know you know what this means. Kinetic Light is feeling it. Like everyone else in the entire arts community, our world has changed. Our tour to Hong Kong, our Wired premiere, and numerous residencies have been postponed or cancelled. This story is not new. The newness here is the brilliance and humanity of the people I work with.
I hope you enjoy these creations. Tell us what you think. And stay tuned for more online events, coming soon!
~Alice
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Image Description: A still from Making Where Good Souls Fear. Alice, a light-skinned multiracial Black woman, is on stage; her wheelchair, crutches and costume all shimmer in the stage lights. She extends her arms, and her long crutches expand her wingspan, making her look like an otherworldly creature. Brandon Kazen-Maddox, a Black man, appears in a square next to her, interpreting in ASL. The caption reads “Nothing is quite what it should be. And yet in the dance, it works.”
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Kinetic Light: Beyond the Stage (ADA in the Arts)
Presented by Lincoln Center
Available until July 27
AD, OC, ASL & transcript
Two unique dance films! This virtual presentation includes Wisp, the ground sighs, a new Kinetic Light creation featuring Alice Sheppard, Laurel Lawson, Jerron Herman, and Michael Maag, plus Making Where Good Souls Fear, by filmmaker Dahkil Hausif, a short dance documentary that takes you behind the scenes and on the streets of NYC with Alice.
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ADA30 Lead On
July 23, 7-9:15pm EDT
AD, OC & ASL
This online event will include a full slate of performances by disabled artists of all disciplines, including brief excerpts from Kinetic Light’s DESCENT. To join, register here.
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Take Class with Laurel Lawson
August 4, 5pm EDT
Hosted by Dance for All Bodies
(contact them for access requests)
Laurel leads this virtual class focusing on foundational principles of groundedness, alignment, breath, release and recovery, the development of physical resilience, and freedom of movement and expressiveness. Registration will be added to the Dance for All Bodies website soon!
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Image description: Dressed in all black, Laurel, a white woman with very short blonde hair, is caught partway through a backroll, wheels in the air and arms curved behind. She is outside, laying on a wood platform and set against a texture of bright green foliage. Photo by Noor Eemaan/Jacob’s Pillow.
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Image Description: A Dance Magazine screenshot. Jerron, a dark-skinned Black man with black hair in twists and a black beard, is dressed in all black. He bends, with his knees turning inward, his palsied hand reaching behind him and his other arm outstretched. He looks off to the left side. The background is an olive green color. Photo by Mark Wickens.
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Under the direction and artistic leadership of Alice Sheppard, Kinetic Light is a project-based collaborative of three disabled artists committed to intersectional disability aesthetics and culture and accessibility as central parts of the art and creative process.
Working in the disciplines of art, technology, design, and dance, Kinetic Light creates, performs, and teaches at the nexus of access, disability, dance, and race. We see disability as more than the deficit of diagnosis. In our work, intersectional disability is an aesthetic, a culture and essential element of our artistry. Through rigorous investment in the histories, cultures, and artistic work of people with disabilities and people of color, Kinetic Light creates transformative art that advances the intersectional disability arts movement.
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