Friday, December 06, 2019
The Joffrey Ballet's Nutcracker Has a New Role for Dancers With Disabilities
Dance Magazine: Marie and Franz have a new guest at their Christmas Eve party this year. Emma Lookatch and Larke Johnson, both dancers in the Adaptive Dance Program at Joffrey Academy of Dance: Official School of The Joffrey Ballet, are alternating in the new role of Worker Girl. It is a permanent part created specifically for students with disabilities in Christopher Wheeldon's version of The Nutcracker at The Joffrey Ballet.
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3 comments:
As much as I am not a fan of The Nutcracker (for a variety of reasons that span several years of working on some aspect of the production), I think this is amazing. It is really great to see these organizations exist to allow those who are differently abled to be able to actively participate in works such as this. I’ve previously worked with groups who do theatre for those who have some form of a disability that allowed these students to fully participate in something so cool as theatre. These individuals often times are more invested in the process that those who do not have a disability. I have seen some of these kids sit through long rehearsals without complaint and go out there on that stage with the biggest smiles on their faces. Great job to Joffrey and the whole company and the best of luck to Lookatch on her goal of being on AGT. I have no doubt that she will go on to do great things.
I am always glad to read another ballet school takes the leap to create space for people with disabilities. However, I think that it is a limited adaptation; they are creating separate opportunities for their students with cerebral palsy, for example, rather than integrating them into the show. They are not allowing equal participation, they are separating out the kids who move differently and effectively emphasizing their differences. A more inclusive model would be to modify existing tracks so that they work for the individuals in question. The ballet school that I used to work for used that philosophy, and they eventually created a sensory-safe version of the performance to increase audience access as well. On the other hand, the student quoted in the article seems enthused about and grateful for the opportunities she has received; at the end of the day, that is probably the only thing that matters.
Articles about new changes to traditionally fairly non-inclusive industries are always great to see. However, I found this instance a little lackluster. I have seen the incredible art made by dancers with mobility restrictions. It takes dedication from the artist and the supporting company to go all in. This Nutcracker is not radically changing inclusivity; they just added 2 people to the chorus. Even in the article, one of the young girls says, “i like getting to watch everyone dance”. That was so disheartening for me to read because it felt like she was saying she was not a dancer. Being along for the ride isn’t enough for people with disabilities, or for any group of people lacking representation. While it is great to see people of different mobility onstage, we need to push past these quick and auxiliary adds. To create a truly holistic inclusive ballet, you have to redefine beauty. Most people, both audiences and artist directors, can’t imagine a disabled principle because they only think of traditional ballet beauty whereas by opening up to the idea of new people coming together to form a new, beautiful art there’s so much more potential gain for everyone.
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