iDance #2

iDance #2, an outward-looking, interactive conference that overturns stereotypes and proposes innovative methods, once again uses the platform of the Onassis Stegi as a jumping-off point, to send dancers with disabilities soaring, physically and spiritually.

In collaboration with three European actors—the Dutch Holland Dance Festival, the Swedish Skånes Dansteater and the British Stopgap Dance Company—and in the presence of specialists from Greece and abroad, this year’s lineup aims to promote, both in theory and in practice, progressive ideas about the how disabled individuals hone certain skills as well as their access to the art of dance and, by extension, to culture itself. Invited guests include artists, researchers, social activists, students and professionals from the cultural sphere, from Greece and abroad, while the program gives individuals the opportunity to learn new techniques and choreographies of inclusive dance, under the tutelage of important teachers and organizations.

Talks | Upper Stage | In English, with simultaneous interpretation from Greek into English & vice versa and Greek sign language.

11:30-11:45 | Welcoming

11:45-12:15 | Dance and Disability: an overview of theories and practices of inclusive dance
Speaker: Betina Panagiotara, dance theorist and journalist
What is the ongoing discourse on dance and disability, and what are the existing educational frameworks? This presentation will outline and consider existing socio-cultural conditions, educational infrastructures, and available practices of inclusive dance, focusing at specific European countries participating in the program iDance funded by the EU Erasmus+. The intention is to delineate, examine and discuss existing realities –especially in education- in the field of contemporary dance and disability, drawing from specific case studies through ethnographic approaches, concluding with an indicative best practices guide that contributes to the diversity of the field.

12:15-13:15 | Dance without borders
How can the knowledge that exists in disabled artists be disseminated?
And how can disabled artists progress into leadership roles?
Panel discussion with dancers & choreographers who have participated in international exchange programmes within the iDance programme.

Speakers:
Siobhan Hayes, interim co-artistic director (Stopgap Dance Company, United Kingdom)
Madeleine Månsson, dancer (Skånes Dansteater, Sweden)
Chris Pavia, senior dance artist (Stopgap Dance Company, United Kingdom)
Sander Verbeek, dancer (Holland Dance Festival, Netherlands)
Demy Papathanasiou, dancer (Onassis Stegi, Greece)
Mentie Megas, choreographer (Onassis Stegi, Greece)

13:15-14:00 | On Whose Terms
Speaker:
Janice Parker, artist/choreographer (United Kingdom)
Choreographer, advocate and artist Janice Parker will talk from her perspective of working in the field of disability dance for the past 40 years. She will challenge the current dominant hierarchies in dance aesthetics, forms and processes, access and training, give examples of different pathways and possibilities, look at what it means for disabled people to be leaders in dance, and ask each of us to consider what action we can take to embrace diversity, do it differently and present possibilities for the future.

14:00 -15:00 | Networking & lunch

WORKSHOPS | 15:00 -16:30

Workshop 1 | Upper Stage
Training and working in dance as a disabled artist
Janice Parker (artist/choreographer)
In English, with consecutive interpretation into Greek. Greek sign language services will be provided if there is interest from deaf & hard of hearing participants.
A dance and movement workshop for anyone of any level of experience, disabled, non-disabled, professional and first-time dancer. We will work from each person’s individual movement vocabulary to explore and develop possibilities and potential around ways of moving and liberating vocabulary in the body. The workshop will be both improvisational and guided with opportunities to work individually and as a group, learning from each other as well as focusing on and from oneself.

Workshop 2 | Rehearsal Room (4th Floor)
Inclusive community dance
Siobhan Hayes, Chris Pavia (dancers)
In English, with consecutive interpretation into Greek. Greek sign language services will be provided if there is interest from deaf & hard of hearing participants.
Stopgap artists Siobhan Hayes and Chris Pavia will lead an inclusive contemporary dance workshop based on Stopgap’s methods and approach to working in the community. The workshop will include a short technique class followed by creative tasks. The workshop is open to disabled and non-disabled participants who have some experience of dance.

16.30-17.00 | Dance interventions | Foyer 4th Floor
Short presentations from the choreographic exploration “Cherry-Picked” that was created and presented at the week-long iDance Residency in Malmö, Sweden on July 2018.

Credits:
1st performance:
Choreographer: Siobhan Hayes (United Kingdom)
Dancers: Eirini Kourouvani (Greece), Venetsiana Kalampaliki (Greece), Flora Vermisoglou (Greece)
Music: Robbins Island Music Group, “Soft Breezes”

2nd performance:
Choreographer: Nadenh Poan (United Kingdom)
Premiered in Sweden with:
Dancers: Smaragda Vaja (Greece), Natalia Baka (Greece), Vivi Christodoulopoulou (Greece)
The premiere at the Onassis Stegi will take place with:
Smaragda Vaja (Greece), Venetsiana Kalampaliki (Greece), Vivi Christodoulopoulou (Greece)
Music: Nadenh Poan, “Drum Wave”