Month: April 2018

Sue Austin

Disabled performance artist. Although her work is not something I can achieve myself, it is incredible so I wish to share it on my blog. It once again shows just how amazing and beautiful wheelchairs can be. It also shows just how much you can do in one. While I won’t be diving in mine for my performance, it perhaps links into a potential section within my performance where I do martial arts. Although I am disabled I can fight and I want to, if it fits, include this into my piece as it really challenges the stereotypes that disabled people are “weak and pathetic”. Austin’s performance does a similar thing. She does something that people would have assumed to be impossible for someone in a wheelchair. My main theme for my performance is getting rid of this misconceptions about disability, and I felt that Austin’s work really does that.

 

Alice Sheppard

Disabled dancer, solo performer and choreographer. Sheppard using her wheelchair to create performances that show that a wheelchair and be beautiful and to show just what she is “able” to do.

Doors:

The solo piece doors not only features Sheppard’s wheelchair but also crutches. Using dark lighting and a breathing soundscape, Sheppard creates as shape that seems almost bug-like. This piece stood out for me for the shapes Sheppard made with her crutches. The lighting is dark so that you can’t really see her face, the whole piece seems very dark and with the breathing soundscape it does kind of feel like a creature awakening. I don’t tend to use my crutches within my movement pieces however after watching this I think I will test it out and see if it would work in my own piece.

 

Trusting If/Believing When:

In this piece Sheppard moves her wheelchair in an usual way. This is something I tend to do a lot in my own pieces. Generally speaking, people tend to assume that being in a wheelchair you’re limited in how you can move when in most cases the wheelchair actually allows you the freedom to move. A wheelchair is seen as a symbol of negativity when they are actually beautiful. If wheelchairs didn’t exist I would be unable to go anywhere, I’d be completely stuck however because I have a wheelchair I can get about. This piece really highlights just how beautiful wheelchairs can be and also how much you can do with them. They can be moved about in ways you didn’t expect and this is something I will definitely be using in my own performance.

 

So, I will wait…:

This piece shows that slow movement can be really effective. The piece is slow but engaging and Sheppard allows for pauses. I think this piece shows that at times it is better to suspend the moves and allow the audience to really look at what your doing. Give them that moment to take it in. In this piece Shepard really shows how able she is. She rolls over with her wheelchair, she lifts it above her head. It amazing. One thing Sheppard’s pieces have highlighted to me is her wheelchair. She has a sports wheelchair which are lightweight and have seatbelts so there’s no risk of the wheelchair falling on her face. I do not have this type of chair which means I need to careful what moves I do and see how much my chair will take as it’s not designed to this kind of thing.

Solo Performances