Hi! There is a list of titles of recent posts at the bottom of the website in the footer. To search for a specific topic, the footer has a spot to search the site, and there is also a search option if you click on the little magnifying glass at the top right of the site.
All posts are by Joanne (unless the post mentions otherwise).
The Collective Access Screen-dance Residency is seeking note-takers for different roles. It is a very part-time contract, with online meetings on Zoom. The cross-disability project is facilitated by the InterdepenDance Collective. (Link for an overview of the project.)
There are multiple note-taking roles available. When you apply, please let us know which role/s you are available for (applicants may apply for more than one role).
The role is paid at $30 Canadian per hour. Payment is once per month by E-transfer.
Please fill in this Note-taking Application google-form
Or contact Joanne@CreativeMoment.im for other format options.
Roles are open until filled. For roles that begin soon, the InterdepenDance Collective will begin offering roles in early November. After all roles have been filled the application form will be closed to new responses.
Thank-you for your application!
Dance artists involved in the Collective Access Screendance Residency recently gathered online for a brainstorm. Below are visual notes by D’Leen Betts about the layers of access that this specific cohort needs for the films that are being created, followed by an image description.
The visual notes are divided into three separate sections. To the left, the heading is: What layers of access does this cohort need for our films? Below this, text and four line drawings are highlighted with purple. Captions is in a purple rectangle. Creative audio description is written near an ear with three squiggly sound waves. Transcript is written under a page with illegible handwriting. Pre-show notes (overview and context notes) is written next to an open booklet.
The upper right section is highlighted in blue. Its heading is: Other options for access we can try, and there are arrows pointing to two drawings below. Three hands sign letters A-S-L. Mail-able sensory pack is written under a box that’s open with two upright objects like oak leaves or seaweed. An arrow from the box points to dotted texture, a nose for smell, and a tongue for taste. A heart postage stamp floats nearby.
The lower right section is highlighted in burgundy red. Its heading is: What can we avoid? A red circle with a diagonal line through it emphasizes that these are to be avoided. A lightbulb surrounded by jagged zigzag flashing is next to text: No flashing lights or quick edits (need 3 seconds or longer). An oozing splotch, shaped like a ginger root, is next to text: No abstract plot with no entry points.
For more information about the project, go to the Collective Access Screendance Residency page.
Click here to skip ahead to registration info.
The InterdepenDance Collective invites you to:
Disability Justice: Re-envisioning the Revolutionary Body.
Patty Berne from Sins Invalid will be sharing ideas, practices and experiences around Disability Justice.
Friday May 28, 2021
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Pacific Time
Online on Zoom
Free
Please register and note access requests by May 24th.
Sign language interpreters and captioning are confirmed.
Access practices that have already been requested are audio description, large print, reading out or signing the Chat when there are new comments, and having materials in Word or PDF.
The workshop is geared to dancers, artists and creative people with lived experience of ableism, audism and/or sanism.
There will be a mix of presentation, small group discussion in break-out rooms, and questions/ conversation in the big group.
The workshop is hosted by the InterdepenDance Collective, who dance and collaborate mostly in Lekwungen lands and virtually.
Here is the link to register for May 28th: https://forms.gle/YMJtVpYY5iypynyB9
Another way to register is by email.
Space is limited so that participants can connect as a smaller community. There are a few spots available for the workshop.
The Zoom information will be emailed a couple of days in advance of the workshop.
The colouring page version of the poster has a white background and black line drawings and text that contains the same event details as the event web page. In a mutual aid outer space, a bath chair floats in the centre and is surrounded by 4 stars connected by celestial lines. Along these lines it reads, “take what you need.” Access tools and supports float in a tender tough galaxy of care (cane, crutches, pill bottles, tinctures, knives, spoons, lube, braces, gloves, gaff, binder, bus tickets, money, dental dams, condoms, hand sanitizer, cookies, strawberries, a crystal pendulum reading “sick,” and other adornments and protections.) Forming a constellation of needs with the shower chair, some items are also connected and surrounded by stars and celestial lines. Moon phases border the top and bottom of the page.
This event is made possible with the support of 
Much gratitude to bitty and SeaWolfRise.org for the poster, and to Deaf Spectrum and Thurga Kanagasekarampillai for creating the ASL invite.
Click here for a few text versions of Sins Invalid’s 10 Principles of Disability Justice.
Below is an ASL vlog about Sins Invalid’s 10 Principles of Disability Justice:
Free online sessions:
All Abilities Dance with Joanne
Mondays 1:45pm-2:30pm (PST)
Through the LifeStreams online hub, open to local communities.
Move in new ways, release tension, and connect in community.
There will be guided dance improvisation activities, encouraging each person to choose how they feel like moving and interacting, in the ways that work for them. There is no wrong move, and no prior dance experience is needed.
To join:
Go to the Lifestreams website, and click on a Monday date for All Abilities Dance with Joanne. Below the details about the event, there is blue box that says “Click here and enter” the password.
If you have access needs you would like the facilitator to know about, please fill in the text box mid-way on the dance event page at least a few days in advance. If you have questions for the facilitator, be in touch.
Programs are currently being offered online and outdoors, because people can transmit the omicron variant indoors regardless of vaccination status.
In solidarity with dancers and community members who are immune-compromised, at high risk for severe COVID-19 or Long Covid, and/or have health conditions that mean they cannot safely be vaccinated, we are continuing to focus on online offerings.
Currently, all programs are in collaboration with partner organizations that have detailed safety plans and protocols, and have staff who maintain lists of in-person participants for contact tracing.
The following protocols have been developed based on orders and guidance issued by the provincial health officer and WorkSafeBC, as well as paying attention to peer-reviewed studies about how COVID-19 transmits.
Facilitators, collaborators and participants who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 are not allowed in-person at sessions. For example:
If anyone at a session starts to feel ill: the person with symptoms should report to first aid (even with mild symptoms), be provided with a mask, wash or sanitize their hands, and isolate until they are able to go straight home (or seek medical attention if severely ill). Ventilate the room and clean and disinfect any surfaces that the person with symptoms has come into contact with.
*This policy uses text copied from WorkSafeBC’s COVID-19 Safety Plan template.
These pandemic protocols and policy will continue to be updated based on BC public health orders and new information.
If you have any questions or concerns, please be in touch.
Independent Contemporary Dance Artists and Creators on the south island, you are invited to an online gathering about sustaining our creative practices as we go forward at this time of Covid.
Meeting on Zoom, we will check in, meet new folks, see some familiar faces, share ideas and build connections.
If you’re interested in joining:
1) Let us know what times could work for you June 14/ 15/ 16 by filling in this doodle poll.
AND
2) Send your email address to ConstanceCooke@shaw.ca so we can send you the details in a week or so once the date of the gathering is confirmed.
This gathering is focused on dance artists in Victoria in the homelands of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, as well as on the south island (south of Duncan) and southern gulf islands, such as artists living and working in the homelands of the BOḰEĆEN/ Pauquachin, Diitiid7aa7tx/ Ditidaht, Esquimalt/ Xwsepsum, Halalt, Lake Cowichan, Lyackson, Málexeł/ Malahat, Pacheedaht, Penelakut, Quw’utsun/ Cowichan, Sc’ianew, Songhees, SȾÁUTW/ Tsawout, Stz’uminus, T’Sou-ke, W̱JOȽEȽP/ Tsartlip, and W̱SIḴEM/ Tseycum Nations.
This gathering is for dancers and creators to come together. Artists who also work as presenters, producers or funders are invited to attend in the role of dancer/ creator.
If there are access practices that would support you in participating, please contact Joanne@CreativeMoment.im . ASL interpretation and captioning are dependent on availability of interpreters and transcribers.
This online meeting is being co-hosted by Connie Cooke and Joanne Cuffe.
Warm regards,
Connie and Joanne
Colleagues on the west coast of Turtle Island are offering awesome sessions online this Spring. This post has links to a few classes. Times are for the Pacific Time Zone (Pacific Daylight Time / UTC−07:00).
On this page:
Land-based livestreams
All abilities dance classes (updated in late May)
Mainstream dance classes
Dance-making prompts
Dance videos
Queer Disability peer-facilitated groups
Events in April (not updated)
Open Space held an online / on land series of talks at different sites within Lekwungen & W̱SÁNEĆ territories in April and May, to spend time with and learn from local Indigenous artists, educators, and knowledge keepers. Online / on land series video recordings.
This list focuses on organizations with disability leadership on the west coast.
Dance for All Bodies (based in the US, Bay Area) is hosting online dance classes, including:
Friday May 29: Diaspora Dance Class for All Abilities with Alicia Langlais.
Saturday May 30: Urban Jazz Dance Company Class with Antoine Hunter.
Friday June 5: All Abilities Beginner Flamenco Workshop with Clara Rodriguez.
Sundays June 7, 14, 21, 28: Salsa Class for All Abilities with JanpiStar.
Tuesday June 9: DanceAbility Class with India Harville.
Saturday June 13: Brazilian Dance Class with Stephanie Bastos.
Details about Dance for All Bodies classes.
Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture has two dance workshops during its Still, Life: A Digital Festival:
Tuesday June 2nd at 1pm: Dancing for Well-Being with Joanne Cuffe.
Friday June 5th at 1pm: Move and Connect with Harmanie Rose and All Bodies Dance Project.
Weekdays (Monday-Friday) at 10:30am-11:30am (PDT):
AXIS Dance Company is offering physically integrated dance classes online via Zoom. The schedule is posted for the current week and next week. The class cost is $0, $5 or $10, and requires pre-registering. Details and to register for AXIS Company Classes.
Wednesdays until the end of May, from 2:30pm-3:15pm (PDT):
Dance Together at Home: Creative Movement for people with and without disabilities facilitated by Sarah Bourne. Free. On Zoom. Details about Wednesdays with Sarah are on the Exploration Dance website.
Thursdays from 3:30pm-4:30pm (PDT):
A Low-Impact, Seated Dance Fitness Class offered by Embrace Arts. Free on Zoom. Details about Thursdays Dance Fitness are on the Embrace Arts website.
Saturdays until June 13th, from 10:00am-11:30am (PDT):
All Bodies Dance Project Saturday morning series, open to anyone and everyone.
There are upcoming mainstream dance classes listed on the Dancing Alone Together website (and a daily list of classes posted to the Dancing Alone Together Instagram), and a list of online mainstream dance classes by studios in Canada on the Dance Current website. There are daily gaga classes online, and with Toronto gaga teachers. Margie Gillis is offering classes Wednesday mornings until June 3rd.
Dancing Alone Together has a list of projects with prompts for creating dance, such as #QuarantineShorts Instagram creation prompts from Jerron Herman (@JerronHerman) & Alice Sheppard (@WheelchairDancr).
If you’ve got some extra time these days, check out this resource page of dance videos, as well as interviews with artists about dance from decolonial, Deaf, and cross-disability perspectives. There are links to videos of dancers based on six continents, with a focus on the west coast of Turtle Island.
Chronically Queer provides a welcoming, supportive environment where LGBTQIA2S+ identified people living with chronic health conditions and/or disabilities can come together and share what is happening in their lives. The group is meeting online regularly.
QueerAbilities Victoria is a group of individuals who identify somewhere on the LGBTTQ+ spectrum and who are also living with a disability, either diagnosed or not. The group is connecting on Zoom on Mondays from 3:30pm-5:00pm (PDT).
Open Access Workshop: Organizing Accessibility from the Grassroots with Carmen Papalia, Friday April 17, 1pm-3pm (PDT), organized by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Free. Details and to register for the April 17 Open Access Workshop.
Justice Brunch! A Sunday series featuring Queer Disabled BIPOC Brilliance, hosted by the Disability Justice Culture Club. Sundays April 19, 26, May 3, 10 from 1pm-4pm (PDT): Details about the Sunday Justice Brunch series.
Sins Invalid’s Crip Bits presents: Va-Va-Voom: A Crip Dance Party! Monday April 20th, 6:00pm-7:30pm (PDT) in Sins Invalid’s Zoom room. Pre-registering required. Details and to register for the Crip Dance Party.
Unsettling Dramaturgy: Praxis Sessions for Virtual Collaboration, TBC: April 20 and 30. The series addresses approaches to, and practices in online convening that centre unsettling, decolonization, indigenization, and disability justice in process design. Details will be on the Unsettling Dramaturgy page.
Disability Organizing in the Age of Covid-19: Medical Rationing, Eugenics, and the Precarity of Mutual Aid, Tuesday April 21, 4pm (PDT), hosted by Lydia X. Z. Brown and Georgetown University’s Disability Studies Program. Details about the April 21 Webinar and link for registering by the 19th. Previous event: Webinar on Disability Justice and Decolonization, Tuesday April 14.
Online meditation retreat with Anuskha Fernandopulle on Staying Grounded During the Pandemic, Friday April 24 to Saturday April 25, hosted by the BC Insight Meditation Centre. Details and to register for Anushka’s meditation retreat.
The Accessibility of Victoria’s Arts Scene: Community Conversations hosted online by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria – Part 1 is Monday April 27, and Part 2 is Wednesday May 13.
Webinar on Disability Justice and covid-19, Thursday April 30, 6pm-8pm (PDT) on Zoom, organized by Kwekwecnewtxw – Coast Salish Watch House, Stand.earth, and Moishe House Vancouver. Details about the April 30 Webinar at 6pm.
Workshop with Lindsay Eales and Danielle Peers:
Friday February 28th, 2pm-5pm
at sxʷeŋxʷəŋ təŋəxʷ James Bay Library Branch in Lekwungen homelands.
(sxʷeŋxʷəŋ təŋəxʷ is the Lekwungen name for James Bay and is pronounced s-hweng hw-ung tongue-oo-hw.)
Address: 385 Menzies Street (behind the Legislature).
Room: The workshop is in the Dr. Elmer Seniemten George Community Room.
On this page:
Description
Access notes
Facilitator bios
Event supporters
Lindsay Eales and Danielle Peers will be coming to town, to share ideas around disability leadership, co-facilitation and social justice approaches in dance.
Topics will likely include: anti-oppressive trauma-informed practices, addressing group dynamics, disrupting ableist gaze in performance, and tips for coordinating dance projects.
The format will be informal, with a mix of presentation, conversation, and some movement.
This peer-led workshop is by and for dancers with lived experience of disability/ chronic illness/ mental health considerations/ neurodivergence, and people who experience barriers in dance.
Please do not use scented or fragranced products before coming to the workshop.
To register: contact Joanne with the Subject: “Feb. 28 registration,” and include your contact info and any access requests.
Lindsay Eales is a queer, Mad, settler, who has been co-leading crip dance communities and creating and performing crip and Mad choreography for fifteen years. She is also a certified occupational therapist who works to transform exclusive spaces rather than ‘fixing’ excluded people. Eales recently completed her PhD in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, researching how to create more accessible and affirming dance and movement spaces for people who have experiences with trauma, mental illness, and mental distress.
Danielle Peers is a queer, non-binary disabled settler, as well as a dancer, filmmaker, and researcher. They collaborate with folks who experience multiple barriers to accessible, affirming and meaningful movement practices (including art, sport, recreation, and spiritual movement practices) in order to collectively imagine and spark change. They are currently a Canada Research Chair in Disability and Movement Cultures at the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation at the University of Alberta, as well as an independent artist.
The workshop is organized by the InterdepenDance Collective and Creative Momentum.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Made in BC- Dance on Tour, and the Greater Victoria Public Library.
This note invites input about what styles of dance and live describing you are interested in.
First, we would like to introduce our group. The InterdepenDance Collective is passionate about collective access and growing connections among communities.
We are organizing inclusive dance workshops and events with live describing. Because describing dance is different than theatre audio description, it’s a learning curve for us. Below are three questions we want to ask local communities:
The InterdepenDance Collective is excited to connect with more people interested in described dance. If you have any questions or would like to connect, contact Joanne.
The InterdepenDance Collective invites you to join us for:
Saturday January 25th, 2020
2:30pm – 4:30pm
Free!
At FLUX Media Gallery
821 Fort Street, on the ancestral land of the Lək̓ʷəŋən People.
This event is to introduce the public to mixed-ability dance and dance from disability perspectives.
As well, the event is a chance for dancers who experience disability to come together and experience the work of colleagues in other cities.
Films and video will include work by artists such as Alice Sheppard, Danielle Peers, Geoff McMurchy, All Bodies Dance Project, and Embrace Arts. There will be video excerpts of dance artists based on six continents, with a focus on the West Coast of Turtle Island.
Please do not use any scented or fragranced products before coming to the event.
Feel free to bring a snack to share, with a list of ingredients (large print or size 18 font). Please avoid bringing common allergens (i.e. No nuts, peanuts, shellfish, wheat, gluten, milk/cow dairy). Thank-you!
Here is the event RSVP form. Space is limited.
An alternative way to RSVP is by contacting Joanne.
Accessible washrooms for all genders are available next door at the Victoria Disability Resource Centre.
The Flux Media Gallery entrance is level off of Fort Street. The door is not automatic, so there will be a volunteer near the door available to open it.
Please request interpreting, captioning and describing by January 20th:
-A sign language interpreter is available.
-Captioning and transcribing are confirmed.
-Audio description: Some of the videos have audio description available. There will be live describing for the remaining videos, by artists who are learning to describe dance. Audience members can choose which styles of live describing they would like (for example, narrating physical movements, metaphor, optional tactile describing, layering styles).
For other questions and access requests, contact Joanne or include it when you RSVP.
In case joining in person does not work, a webpage will be available after the event with links to many of the videos shown at the event. The webpage with links will be shared on the integrated dance south island listserv. To join the listserv, connect by email.
There are volunteer roles available: greeter (and available to assist with the door), describing team, childminding, set up and clean-up. Please sign up on the RSVP form.
The film event is in advance of the Integrated Dance Forum on Sunday February 16th, and an Introduction to Inclusive Choreography with All Bodies Dance Project on Friday February 14th.
This event is organized by the InterdepenDance Collective, in partnership with MediaNet, Victoria Disability Resource Centre, Creative Momentum and Embrace Arts.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts. This project is made possible, in part, with the collaboration and support of Made in BC-Dance on Tour.
