Meet Disabled Dancers Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson

 

Laurel Lawson and Alice Sheppard are two dancers who are part of a disabled artists collective called Kinetic Light.
 
“Our perspective as disabled artists is critical and irreplaceable,” said Lawson. “We are making work that comes from long training, experience as artists, as dancers, as choreographers working within the canon of western concert dance.”
 
Kinetic Light is the first professional disabled artist collective in North America. Through the collective and through their performances, they strive not only for artistic equity but for equity for all the people who participate in the shared experience, from the dancers to the audience members. They say that their work is for all audience members, but that individuals with disabilities really connect with their choreography.
"We have disabled children, we have queer children, children of all races who can come and recognize themselves and identify and have that spark of desire to participate in art, to participate in cultural life," says Lawson.
Dance is a difficult skill, both physically, mentally, and artistically—but what can make it all worthwhile is that feeling of a shared experience.
 
"A performance is a direct relationship...I want to be able to issue an invitation, I want you to accept that invitation, and then I want us to have a journey," Sheppard said.

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