The word “prosthesis” refers to an artificial, supplemental device that attempts to return a disabled body to a state of “normalcy.” A prosthetic hand resembles and functions as a “normal” hand; a prosthetic foot resembles and functions as a “normal” foot. Such technologies are laden with political expectations, namely, the insistence that there is such […]

I was 12 years old when I first started to wear a prosthesis. The prosthetic leg didn’t look very empowering to me at first; I mostly just saw it as a way to stand. Over time I started to observe myself with a certain kind of precision, looking closely at how I was walking, sitting, […]

Watching Alice Sheppard‘s DESCENT a few months ago, I put on the multitrack audio descriptions. On top of the music, I heard close-up sounds of the dancers moving onstage, plus a spoken description that was so nuanced it bordered on poetry. I’d seen the work in person before, but this experience hit me in an […]

Jerron Herman wasn’t nervous. We were filming the video for “Who and Who,” by experimental musician XI.ME.NA. Even while he was improvising alone in front of the camera in a button-down shirt and tie—under blazing lights, on a slippery paper backdrop—he joked about feeling at home on set. I’d gone first (in heels), and I’d […]

Kitty Lunn once thought her dance career was over. The former Washington Ballet dancer had slipped on an icy staircase, breaking her back and becoming a paraplegic. Thirty-three years later, not only is Lunn still dancing (she takes ballet and modern at Steps on Broadway five to six days a week), she also teaches and […]

It can be hard to focus when Alice Sheppard dances. Her recent sold-out run of DESCENT at New York Live Arts, for instance, offered a constellation of stimulation. Onstage was a large architectural ramp with an assortment of peaks and planes. There was an intricate lighting and projection design. There was a musical score that […]

There’s a tradition in hip-hop culture of reclaiming negative words as positive ones. That’s why you might hear things like “nasty” or “bad” as compliments. The same goes for ILL-Abilities, a breaking crew comprised of differently-abled dancers: “The ‘ill’ does not refer to ‘sick’ or ‘unwell’ but rather to incredible, amazing, intricate, talent,” they write […]

After 30 years of pioneering work in physically integrated dance, AXIS Dance Company co-founder Judith Smith has announced plans to retire from the Oakland, California, company. Throughout her tenure, she strived to get equal recognition for integrated dance and disabled dancers, commissioning work from high-profile choreographers like Bill T. Jones. Her efforts generated huge momentum […]