Anna.

Last week I taught pro class at The Place. 

I love teaching. I love the openness of the participants, their trust to follow me in imagination land. 

We transform in ostriches, we disconnected from the 'vertical line', we connect to the 'horizontal' one. We disconnect the brain - or try to. We release, we open, we empty. 

(can you feel my Big Essay making its way gently..) 

INSTINCT. 

I taught Monday - Friday. 

On Sunday night, I see Anna's email. I have never met her, but she wants to come to class. Anna is deaf and is wondering whether the class will be physical (= easy to follow visually) or somatic (= less easy to follow visually). The thing; my classes are both. Highly physical but also, digging in sensations, imagination, experimentation. And I speak. Oh how I love speaking!! 

There is something I always hated about myself: the over-expression of my body and my face. Gosh, I could not watch myself speak or even listen to someone. I move everything, my face is hyperactive.

But last week, for the 1st time, that was a great bonus. 

I asked Anna if she wanted me to send the structure of class with the ideas we were going to dig in. 

She said yes, I did. 

On Tuesday when she came, I articulated a lot. I never left her visually out of my sight. I made sure I was 'there', at reach. 

On Wednesday, we changed the way we used the mirror, we thought, let's use it so that you see me when you're upside down - she mentioned she had a hard time releasing her neck, because of having to look out for the teacher constantly. I also asked the participants to articulate and look at Anna whenever they had a question. 

On Friday, I dared being clearer with the other participants: do not just articulate and look at Anna, come close to me or let me come close to you so that Anna does not have to follow any sound from a 'conversation'. Let's stand next to each other and INCLUDE physically Anna in this question-answer. 

She posted a wonderful text. I was moved by it. 

I was moved because it worked, we made it work, we did it. We created the environment together. At night we would text each other 'shall we swap position at the beginning of class so that you see me in the mirror ...' / 'shall I ask the others to be clearer when asking questions..' (I was focusing on the answer more than on the question for Anna to understand).

I am moved today. 

The biggest milestones of our practices, often, are the ones we did not see coming. 

They are the one we reach and succeed together. 

Inclusivity is such an evidence. I am angry to realize that last minute decisions are so difficult for so many professional dancers.

Anna is a dancer with Candoco Dance Company. 

ANNA S POST:

This is Léa Tirabasso and she is awesome.

I was a bit anxious about trying her pro dance classes this week because I didn’t have an interpreter and I wasn’t sure how accessible and inclusive it would be for me.

I’m spoilt now - in my job with Candoco, I have BSL interpreters full time. But when I’m off contract, I have no access to interpreters. Anyone, whether they are deaf or not, disabled or not, should be able to go to dance classes when they want to. It’s an important part of our practice as dancers. However, that’s not always the reality.

I was tempted to just forget about it, but I was curious about Lea’s work and decided to contact Lea through Instagram to ask about her classes and if I’d be able to follow them visually.

Not only did Lea respond with a detailed lesson plan, she also offered to ask The Place if they were able to book an interpreter. Usually that is left to the deaf person to do the asking when we know what the answer will be “We don’t have the budget for it…” I know most people want to be able to provide interpreters, but the problem is institutional/structural.

It’s exhausting.

I ended up doing 3 days with Lea this week and it was such a great experience because Lea was so welcoming and inclusive. She made sure her classes were accessible for me, she took responsibility and she encouraged the others in class to take responsibility too.

It also got me thinking “why didn’t I ask for this a long time ago?” I realised that sometimes we just don’t know what to ask for. I can’t speak for all deaf and disabled people but I know this - I didn’t ask or say what I need because I didn’t want to take up too much space. Be too demanding. Be a pain in the arse. Turn people off from wanting to be around me. “Oh shit, here comes Anna - she is so much work” “She is so needy” “She takes up a lot of time and attention” etc. I’m sure many other deaf and disabled people can relate to these feelings.

If you are a dance teacher and you have a deaf person in your dance class, here are a few things you can do to make it a more inclusive and safe space for all (this is dance specific but can be applied to other contexts):

SEE NEXT POST

Continued from previous post…

* send lesson plans the day before and include ad much detail as possible. The more context, the less demanding lip reading will be and guessing what is being said.

* make sure the deaf person can see your face. They will probably adjust their position to see you. Or you can adjust your position.

* use mirrors for extra visual information. E.g. going into spinal rolls, the deaf person can see you through the mirror.

* if moving around the space, place yourself in the deaf person’s visual field or tap on their shoulder or wave to get their attention before giving new instructions.

* give visual gestures as much as you can e.g. counting 5-8 with your fingers, point to the part of the body you are talking about.

* asking others to be more clear/articulate when asking questions. This can mean making sure the deaf person can see your face before asking the question. Remember inclusion is a collective responsibility!

* make sure the deaf person feel they can ask questions too. This can be as simple as maintaining eye contact and acknowledging the deaf person’s presence. This will make them feel seen, and more comfortable with asking/saying something.

* share your song list before class if possible to give them the vibe.

I’m sure there’s more but remember - just ask what the deaf person needs and encourage a collective responsibility approach with everyone.