Artists, choreographers and other dance professionals were invited to join a 4-day collective and collaborative exploration of disabling conditions and systemic barriers set by prevailing ableism in contemporary dance.

The EDN Carte Blanche Artist Exchange was mediated and facilitated by disabled artists collective Al.Di.Qua and hosted by Lavanderia a Vapore in Collegno (Turin), Italy, from 22 to 25 May 2023.

Inspired by Al.Di.Qua's manifesto, the participants were invited to open a space of possibilities and sow new visions, expand the imaginary relating to disability, grow new skills and raise awareness to generate structural changes and promote greater leadership by people with disabilities and a greater equity for all:

“Our body is not the problem, nor our physical, motor, sensory, neurological, cognitive abilities. We can no longer accept that our bodies, our histories, our changing identities are reported and flattened under a single convenient medical-scientific term. We are not talking about disabilities, but about Disabling Experiences imposed by a society built on a model that only benefits the western, male, white, able, healthy, cisgender and straight human being.”

The discussions on access curated and presented by Stefania Di Paolo | TalkwithDance were published as a follow-up to the Artist Exchange by Lavanderia a Vapore.

Interviews with participating artists Elia Zeno Covolan, Marta Olivieri, Diana Anselmo, Daniel Bongioanni and Nikita Lymar were conducted in Italian, with the collaboration of sign language translators and transcriptions supervisors Cesare Benedetti and Sara Pranovi.

You can enable automatically translated captions in the video settings or download a transcript in English.

Discussing Access #1: Time, Space & Communication

Discussing Access #2: Multiply Perceptions

Discussing Access #3: Eyes and Hands