Rachel describes how she had always wanted to teach special education, but her path led her on a professional dance track first. She eventually switched careers to public education through the New York City Teaching Fellows Program. To her surprise, her principal (no “s”) requested she teach movement and dance across multiple school sites instead of general education serve as a classroom teacher, so she became a dance educator to students with severe disabilities. That experience restructured how she thought about movement, what movement means to students, and what goals benefit them. The inquiry led Rachel to become passionate about writing dance curriculum that infuses academics and developing creative assessment tools.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt Rachel McCaulsky (MSEL, MST, BFA) is the arts coordinator, remote learning unit coordinator, and movement teacher at P396K, a New York City Department of Education District 75 school servicing students with severe to profound disabilities. She incorporates movement into the school’s curriculum, creating units of study that fuse literacy and social studies with dance. Her movement units have been published multiple times in the NYC Department of Education Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance. Rachel holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership, a dual master’s degree in Childhood Education and Childhood Special Education, and a bachelor’s degree of fine arts in Dance. She has performed with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Ailey II, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. You can find Rachel's frog life cycle unit here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZS03Y2q_3yVUwI1nmGkcxl3wSfs-ctLn

Dancecast

What Movement Means to the Student / Rachel McCaulsky

Advocating for Inclusive Dance in the Public SchoolsIn this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews New York-based dance educator and advocate Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez. Sandi shares her dance beginnings and describes how she always identified as a teacher, even as she pursued performance opportunities, which directly led to her career as a dance educator in the public schools. She ended up working for 20 years at the first fully inclusive public school in the country, where there was also a robust performing arts program. Sandi reflects on the value of those experiences and how they informed her later work in city-wide efforts to represent dance educators and advocate for students with disabilities. She talks about how she’s staying active in the field post-retirement and adapting to online spaces.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt, founder of Stance On Dance. Sandi Stratton-Gonzalez taught dance to children with special needs in inclusion and self-contained classrooms for more than 20 years at PS 372 in Brooklyn. Recently retired from the classroom, Sandi is the coordinator of the Arnhold Programs for Dance Educators and the Dance Transition Team Leader at the Office of Arts and Special Projects in NYC. She is a professional development facilitator with the Arts for Students with Disabilities Team (NYC), advocacy director for the NYS Dance Education Association and teaches dance for students with disabilities for NDEO. A member of NDEO since 2005, Sandi works with the NDEO Dance and Disabilities Task Force, whose goal is to increase the organization’s capacity to support the dance and disability community. She is co-author (with C. Gallant and D. Duggan) of Dance Education for Diverse Learners: A Special Education Supplement to the Dance Blueprint and has been published in Dance: Current Selected Research Volume 7 and Dance Education in Practice, where she is a member of the editorial board. Sandi was an adjunct professor at Hofstra University from 2008-2018, teaching Dance in Elementary Education. Prior to teaching fulltime, Sandi was the founding artistic director of Soundance Repertory Company (1984-1999), and her choreography has been presented throughout the Northeast.

Advocating for Inclusive Dance in the Public Schools / Sandi Stratton-Gonzales

In this episode he describes how he reluctantly came to dance after learning about it from another wheelchair user, and how he found integrated dance to be radically different than the dances of his culture. Kadar reflects on the therapeutic and social benefits of dance, and how performing boosted his confidence as both a person with a disability and as an immigrant. He shares more about his involvement with an all-wheelchair group that improvises about the environment and accessibility, as well as why he decided to become a member of DanceAbility Finland’s board to promote dance to other disabled immigrants.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.This episode was originally part of X Dance Festival. This episode was published also at Stance on Dance.  

Dance as Integration / Kadar Kristan

You can see Perch on Tuesday the 8th of June 2021. This performance is donation based and you can register here. Perch is part of the X Dance Festival 2021.  You can find out more about Amy Voris and Katye Coe and about their impressive work in the field of dance and Somatics. 

X Dance Festival / Perch by Amy Voris and Katye Coe

 In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Tali Wertheim and Hai Cohen, artistic directors of Vertigo Power of Balance, an Israeli based inclusive dance company. Hai describes how he came to dance almost by accident, meeting Tali in a workshop led by Adam Benjamin that culminated in a performance. Tali shares how she and Hai felt that contact improvisation and inclusive dance needed to continue in Israel. They fervently studied Adam Benjamin’s exercises, and within a year Vertigo Power of Balance was born. Tali and Hai speak about how they developed their teacher trainings for one teacher with and one teacher without a disability, as well as their summer intensive programs. They also share the process developing their most recent piece, Shape on Us, choreographed by Sharon Fridman, through a pandemic and war. Hai describes how he was struck by the raw and real way in which Sharon chose to display disability in the piece.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt. You can learn more about Vertigo Power of Balance on this link. This episode was originally recorded for X Dance Festival.This episode is published also at Stance on Dance. Photo by Yoel Levy.

"We Can Invent Anything" / Vertigo Power of Balance

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Georgie Goater, a dance artist and pedagogue based in Helsinki, Finland where she moved from Aotearoa (New Zealand). Georgie describes her early attraction to dance as a place of nonverbal communication where she discovered through improvisation that there is no right or wrong. She reflects on her introduction to integrated dance through Touch Compass Dance Company in New Zealand. Later, her path led her to Helsinki, Finland, where she concentrated on pedagogy and immersed herself in the Finnish dance community. Silva and Georgie contemplate the importance and impossibility of acknowledging one’s dance lineage and who shaped them along the way. Finally, Georgie reflects on her experience performing in choreographer Kat Rampackova’s recent work and her hopes for the future.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.  Georgie Goater is a white, non-disabled dance artist and pedagogue from Aotearoa (NZ) based in Helsinki. She gained her MA in Dance Pedagogy from the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2019, and her BA in contemporary dance from Unitec NZ in 2006. Her dance, choreographies and writing stem from collaboration and betweenness, as well as bodily interests in materiality, dreaming, and process-oriented creation. She has had the privilege of working with choreographers in NZ, Finland and the UK, as well as inclusive dance companies Touch Compass and Kaaos Company. She values dialogical practices and the body as a site for shared learning and making.This episode was orginally recorded as part of the X Dance Festival . Learn more about Georgie’s work, visit www.georgiegoater.comThis episode is also published at Stance on Dance.    

Retracing Her Steps / Georgie Goater

Today my episode is with a dance student Ida Mokki who talks about her journey to the dance world and her dreams after graduating in December from Live Vocational College. Ida is teaching with her fellow student two of the Daily Dances that are happening for the first seven mornings (6-12.6.) during the X Dance Festival at 11-11.30am EEST. Check out this awesome promo for the Daily Dances here. This episode is mostly in Finnish."Olen 25-vuotias ja opiskelen Ammattiopisto Livessä viimeistä vuotta tanssijaksi.Rakastan tanssimista, koska sen avulla pystyn tutustumaan itseeni ja siihen mitä kaikkea voin olla. Tanssijana hyödynnän paljon sisäisyyttäni ja tanssin omia tunteitani näkyväksi. Tanssin muodoista eniten lähellä sydäntäni on improvisaatio. " -Ida Mokki     

X Dance Festival / Ida Mokki

In this episode I spoke with Kati Raatikainen, choreographer, performance artist, dance and yoga teacher, and a thinker that likes to write. We spoke about Kati's interests and her latest work Kvartetto that will be performed at the X Dance Festival on the Wednesday the 9th and Thursday the 10th of June, Thursdays performance is also being live streamed.  You can get your tickets to Kvartetto here: https://tinyurl.com/kvartettoXDF-2021tickets Here are links to things that Kati was mentioning on the podcast:https://www.erkkajooga.com https://www.facebook.com/erkkajooganvertaiset https://www.valokeilassakoillinen.fi/tapahtuma/koillisesta-koilliseen-osaprojektissa-syntyy-paikallisten-taidetekoja/ http://www.liikekieli.com/tanssitaide-ekososiaalisesti-kestavassa-yhteiskunnassa-1-2020/

X Dance Festival 2021 / Kati Raatikainen

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Kat Rampackova, a choreographer, performer, and dance activist based in Barcelona, Spain. Kat shares her journey finding herself as a freelance dance artist after studying theater, contemporary dance, and improvisation across Europe. She is the co-founder of Priestor Súčasného Tanca (PST), a place for developing contemporary dance in her native city Košice in Slovakia. Kat describes PST’s emphasis on access, not elitism, and how that led her into the world of inclusive dance. Her recent piece, Mirage, is a collaboration with Finnish dance company Kaaos and is inspired by the artistic work of Catalan visual artist Joan Miró. Another international project Kat is involved with, Sound in the Silence, takes young people to places of historical significance for educational and artistic workshops. She talks about how learning history and transforming a place through art and dance can be a cathartic experience.Follow Kat on Instagram at @katrampackova.Here are links to her work and to the art space that she co-founded PST.PST - Priestor Sucasneho Tanca: https://www.facebook.com/pst.kosice Here are clips of her previous works, performative-choreographic exposition in collaboration with Sztuka Nowa -theater company based in Warsaw, Poland, dance performance for children Jumika  and inclusive dance performance Body Recognition.This interview was originally part of X Dance Festival.

Art as a Tool for Access and Transformation / Kat Rampackova

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Finnish artist/theater director Teemu Mäki and Finnish dance artist Maija Nurmio about their collaborative work Éliane, which is based on the French composer Éliane Radigue's composition L'Île Re-Sonante. Teemu describes why he was drawn to Radique’s experimental music and how a collaboration sprung up between himself and Maija. Maija shares how Radique’s music had a physical effect on her, how they negotiated creating a work that included choreography, film, visuals and Teemu's spoken-word poem that was influenced by the events of a mass murder that happened in Norway a decade ago. The work wrestles with mortality, the meaning of art, and the purpose of experimental music/art-making.Text by Emmaly Wiederholt. You can find more information about each one of them, by clicking their name Éliane Radigue, Teemu Mäki and Maija Nurmio.This episode was originally recorded to be part of X Dance Festival 2021. DanceCast partners with Stance on Dance .

Experimenting with the Experimental / Maija Nurmio and Teemu Mäki

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews her collaborators from the Discussing Disability in Dance Book Project: dancer/writer Emmaly Wiederholt, and visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado. The project has been a four-year process interviewing 25 professional dancers around the world who identify as having a disability. Together, Silva, Emmaly, and Liz discuss the impetus for the project, what themes they've seen emerge, how they've grown in their understanding of disability while working on it, and how they hope the book project serves as a jumping point for other perspectives and conversations regarding disability in dance. To learn more about the Discussing Disability in Dance Book Project, visit http://stanceondance.com/discussing-disability-in-dance/. And to donate to the GoFundMe to cover illustrator, designer, printing and audiobook fees, visit https://gofund.me/1d44d437

Discussing Disability in Dance; interview with Emmaly Wiederholt and Liz Brent-Maldonado

Turning Setbacks into Comebacks In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Zazel-Chavah O’Garra, founder and artistic director of ZCO/DANCE PROJECT, a physically integrated dance company in New York City. Zazel shares the story of her benign brain tumor that left her partially paralyzed and how she began her dance company after performing at the Brain Tumor Foundation’s Awareness Day. She also discusses what her company is doing to stay active through the pandemic, how she works to prepare students with disabilities to pursue a career in the arts, and why she urges dance majors in college to pursue double majors. Photo credit to Meri Greene. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt.

Interview with Zazel-Chavah O'Garra ; Turning Setbacks into Comebacks

Interview with Karen Daly; Being Seen as A Dancer In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Karen Daly, a dancer in Eugene, OR with DanceAbility International. Karen shares the story of her entrance into dance in her 40s and some highlights from her career working with DanceAbility. She also discusses the process of creating performances through DanceAbility’s framework, and how the principles of sensation, relationship, time and design serve to augment the performers’ ability to communicate to each other and to the audience. Finally, she reflects on how it’s sometimes still difficult to see herself and be seen as a dancer. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt http://stanceondance.com https://www.bodyshift.org https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Ride-One-Legged-Journey-Self-Acceptance-ebook/dp/B077YB9VVL/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=joy+ride+my+one+legged&qid=1574101046&sr=8-1 https://www.artsparktx.org

Interview with Karen Daly

Interview with Roman Baca; Dancing the Veteran Experience In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Roman Baca, who is an Iraq War veteran, the director of EXIT12 Dance Company, and an MFA candidate in Choreography at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London. He describes his upcoming MFA final performance, which seeks to choreographically share the experiences of five veterans on the lawn at Trinity Laban. He also shares his transition back to civilian life after serving in the Marine Corps, how finding dance again was necessary to overcome his internal anger and frustration after serving in Iraq. Text by Emmaly Wiederholt http://exit12danceco.org https://vimeo.com/312834658 http://www.stanceondance.com http://www.bodyshift.org

Interview with Roman Baca

There’s No Such Thing As “We Can’t Do Something” In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Karenne Koo, a dance artist in Tucson, AZ, committed to developing and practicing multidisciplinary approaches to encourage and stimulate the art of inclusive dance as an instrument for building community. Here, she discusses her involvement with the Mettler-based dance community and the breadth of her outreach work – from working with survivors of trafficking and abuse, to children with severe medical issues, to low income families, to adults and children with diverse abilities, to horses. She reflects on how her own community makes all the facets of her work possible. https://www.karennekoo.net https://www.dancesequences.com https://www.barbaramettler.org https://www.artsparktx.org https://www.bodyshift.org https://www.stanceondance.com

Interview with Karenne Koo

We talk about dance as an art form when it is created, taught and explored in a non-traditional environment with non-traditional doers.