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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2004)
aprii 2.2004 - iust Breaking barriers ometimes opportunities strike where you least expect them. S Think you have no dance ability? Think again. For Erik Ferguson, studying and per forming dance was the last thing he imag ined would change his life. Now, the Portlander is working as an intern for DanceAbility, a pio neering teaching and performance method that works with people of mixed abilities. “1 never really considered myself a group artist," says Ferguson, whose background is in visual arts and activism. But it turns out the program hits both those chords. DanceAhility is a m ethod for exploring movement improvisation. Created by Eugenes Joint Forces Dance Company, it enables dis covery of commonalities between people and encourages and respects all peoples potential for creative expression. “T he first time 1 tried a dance class it was a little scary,” Ferguson admits. “1 had to get out of my wheelchair to get into the building because there were no accessible ram ps.... O nce in there, there were no disabled people in the class.” Worse yet, all students were asked, he continues, “to go out into the mid dle of the circle and make a m ovem ent with our bodies." Ferguson describes how his body “just react ed. It made a movement, and it felt really good. T hat night I went home and sort of danced around in my living room and really [thought] about my txxiy in terms of what I could do as opposed to what it couldn’t do.” According to Ferguson, DanceAhility strives to show there are wonderful movement possibilities inside the disabled body. “As some one with cerebral palsy, my body can make shapes that other peoples can’t. It’s important to see these moves and movements as not * by J odi being inferior to those of able-bodied people but recognize them as equally beautiful.” Last spring, Ferguson and Lark Jarvis, another Portland DanceAhility iastructor, attended their first workshop and mixed-abilities performances. Both decided they wanted to continue this work and to share it with others, so they completed a monthlong DanceAhility teacher certification in Trier, Germany, taught by Joint Forces Dance Qimpany artistic director Alito Alessi. “It all happened very quickly,” recalls Fergu son. “It was an amazing trip. We spent all day learning with Alito in the hottest summer on record in Germany, then at the end of a work shop we would take to the streets.” N ot to be tourists, hut to be artists. “In a lot of places there, disabled people aren’t allowed in theaters. It sends a really strong message when you hold performances in public spaces,” Ferguson says. “You break down a lot of social and class barriers when everyone has access to the performances.” I ince getting certified, Ferguson and Jarvis have co-taught several introductory Dance- ' Ability workshops in Portland. Ferguson, who is transgendered, also works with people who have disabilities in Portland State Univer sity’s assistive technology office. Jarvis is trained as a body worker and has worked with people your nu| t >:• D arby at the Scarlett Ballroom JH Wedding Receptions Parties f m* & Alternative Events isyi M « * m tttw w w w w w w w w w w w w T ! W W W .scarlettbaUfoom.com M0 \ - , ___ __ 3 503 . 230 . 9206 WmMWkÆ m ÊÊ%■ m 700 NE Dekum * • Portland, OR 9721 1 HI who have HIV and other life-challenging illnesses. Joan Gunness, Dance- Ability’s third Portland instructor, has worked as a yoga instructor and a dance teacher for 30 years. The process that occurs through DanceAhility is profound for teach ers and students. “To see the evolution of people’s relationship with their bodies is amazing,” attests Ferguson. Participants can’t help but learn important lessons Y. about themselves and others in their class. x “There are preconceived notions that people with disabilities should keep from using their bodies in any way because it will be embarrassing for them or because able-bodied people will find it ugly or will look at us with sympathy,” Ferguson adds. “There needs to be a lot of work in both of those com munities to dispel these notions and build a working model that appreciates everyone.” The diversity of DanceAhility is one of its many strengths. The method is simple: Partici pants begin to find a common denominator in a group. W hen everyone in the group is mak ing a movement with their body, everyone else pays attention to what people around them are doing, and they all find a way to do the same out 53 dance. It’s based on inclu- sivity— the idea that everyone in the group holds the information that everyone else needs. “We have people from all backgrounds, all experi ences and all physical abil ities,” says Ferguson. “W hether a member is able-bodied, in a wheelchair, queer or transgendered, the idea is to find com monalities that we all can work with." Ferguson s. hopes this type shatters I of forum will preconceptions I serve to break about the disabled down bound \ body during aries of DanceAbility DanceAbi » ableism public but also performance to shatter M arch 28 at stereotypes Portland State about queers, particularly U niversity trans people. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that my work would he in dance,” he laughs. “I think this work is really important for everyone— teachers, participants and observers. It’s life-changing.” J H Û series of D a n c e A b il it y classes begins April 3. For more information call 503*725-5664 or e-mod sdu@mail. pdx. edu. A JODI D a r b y is a Portland free-lance writer.
