The Nutcracker is a holiday favorite ballet, but professional dancer and choreographer Douglas Scott wanted to break out of the box.
“I wanted to take more responsibility for my artistic training … and move into modern dance where I really felt my talents and heart lie,” he said. The shift produced a traditional dance company called Dance Force, which he founded.
“In late 1992, I attended a workshop about bringing the arts to all different populations that included the use of improvision for people with brain injuries and all sorts of different things. One of the courses was dance for people with physical disabilities,” Scott said. “I went to the workshop and was just amazed. Here were people whose bodies did not look like mine or move like mine, but were still pursuing art, dance as an art form, not as physical therapy.”
The enlightened performer was invited to teach dance classes to individuals with physical disabilities through partnerships that included the Shepherd Center and the Atlanta Ballet.
“Intrigued” by what he saw in those classes led him to incorporate dances with disabilities into his choreography. Scott met the challenge of integrating traditional dancers and those with physical disabilities creating “artistic parity and physical equality” in his work.
“We don’t use the word challenged,” he stated. “We prefer disability as we always say ‘disability is not a dirty word just say it’.
“We realized for many people, people with disabilities, there is this hunger and need for a dance form. A dance technique that is just as rigorous as a dance technique for a non-disabled dancer. There are a lot of dance classes out there for those with physical disabilities but it seems to focus more on the social aspects of dance, the improvision-based dance rather than dance that trains you if you want to become a professional dancer,” Scott added.
A few years later Dance Force changed to Full Radius Dance. The company performs globally and is the most “visible component” of the organization, according to the artistic and executive director.
Full Radius Dance’s educational outreach programs “sprung” to the forefront during the pandemic with the in-person dance classes, then pivoting to a virtual format hosting dancers through Zoom from the metro area, across the states, Canada, India, Bermuda and New Zealand.
“The term disabled dancer a little over three decades ago would have been considered an oxymoron. As someone who has had a life-long disability, younger me would have never considered dance and the arts as a viable career path,” wrote FRD dancer Peter Trojic in an email to the AJC.
“Since joining FRD I have seen myself grow as a dancer and artist. It’s time we start looking and changing this idea of ‘normal’ that we’ve clung on to for years,” he added.
The classes (virtual) are relaunching Sept. 14.
Credit: contribute
Credit: contribute
A series of eight different dance classes will be offered with each class running about 3 weeks. Seen in the videos will be all the different embodiments: standing, seated and someone on the floor comprised of both disabled and non-disabled dancers. Once registered participants will receive a link to either a live class or a U-tube video.
The cost ranges from free up to what one can pay. “We realize that particularly for people with disabilities their annual income is so much lower than those without disabilities,” the founder said. “Not only do we provide accessibility through the content of our classes, but we also want to provide financial accessibility.
“Dance will help one rediscover and relearn their body. Bodies constantly change either through injury or through the natural aspect of aging. Everyday I discover something new about my body,” Scott added.
Visit: https://www.instagram.com/fullradiusdance
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