Kinetic Light creates, performs, and teaches at the intersections of access, queerness, disability, dance, and race.
The internationally recognized disability arts ensemble performed at the 鈥檚 as part of the group鈥檚 fall 2022 East Coast tour. Using art, technology, design, and dance, Kinetic Light creates, performs, and teaches at the intersections of access, queerness, disability, dance, and race.
The ensemble鈥檚 Laurel Lawson and Alice Sheppard presented Under Momentum, a duet that 鈥渃elebrates the joys of continuous motion, the allure of speed, the beautiful futility of resisting gravity,鈥� according to the artists. Lawson and Sheppard鈥攂oth wheelchair users鈥攑erformed on a series of ramps designed by artist and design researcher Sara Hendren. The show offered an accessible theater experience through accessible seating, sensory kits, quiet space, ASL interpreters, and audio description through the Audimance app.
鈥淭heir performance celebrated the joy of motion and the complexity of relationships in such a beautiful and moving way, and I was really thrilled that many members of the wide Rochester disability community joined us,鈥� says , director of the and the .
The company was in residence at Rochester from September 5鈥�9, 2022, engaging students and the community in workshops as well as performance.
Says Pfohl Smith: 鈥淭heir residency taught us how access is aesthetic, cultural, and ongoing, and our work now is to continue to work towards creating a more equitable audience experience for everyone at every show.鈥�
Presented by the Program of Dance and Movement, the residency was made possible through an ArtsConnect grant from the , University Advancement鈥檚 Schwartz Fund for the Humanities and Performing Arts, and additional support from the University鈥檚 Institute for the Performing Arts.
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