Ausdance Queensland presented a series of disability-inclusive dance workshops at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts 16 – 18 July in partnership with Dance Integrated Australia. Creative Director, Philip Channells facilitated an introductory session, a skills development workshop and a choreographic / performance devising workshop that was interconnected across three days.

He was joined by emerging artists from Adelaide, Jianna Georgiou and Matt Shilcock (both JUMP mentees with a disability) and local Brisbane-based artist, Zaimon Vilmanis. The workshops were attended by a group of fifty people with and without a disability.

On the final day, 27 artists from Blue Roo Theatre attended which enabled the 12 participants from the first two sessions first-hand experience of putting to the test their new skills. Most people from the initial workshops were assigned at least two Blue Roo performers to devise their own dance installation piece for the final showing. Other vignettes were developed and performed as a response to adapting contemporary dance technique to generate new choreographic material.

The best thing about the workshops was the pace, the participants, the mixture of abilities, the content and the way it was delivered. I really liked the process that we worked through across the sessions and the various tips and exercises that enabled you to be creative and find new ways of moving / dancing / using your body. Lucy Lott

Photo: Tim Standing / Daylight Breaks