KriyAbility

Fun. Frustrating. Fierce….but all worth it!

“I promise, Ancy, I’ll get on that stage and perform today - even if I have to crawl to my spot.”

My dancer in a wheelchair didn’t say this because I doubted him; he said it because I had just lost all calm when volunteers came running moments before the performance to inform us that there was no ramp to access the stage.
The previous evening, the group was promised that the ramp would be up.

This, at an event that had known for weeks that a group of 11 would be performing.
An opportunity the organisers had extended to us when we were simply dancing with other priorities, minding our own business.

The chaos began right from the start. The entry of this group of performers and accompanying caretakers - badly organised.
The only ramp to enter the venue was blocked by a registration table with five or six people sitting behind it, obstructing access.

The first waiting area we were sent to had exposed construction material.
The second had food spilt across tables and the floor, which a dozen of us with varying disabilities had to step or wheel around.

There were these security personnel and volunteers with organizer badges who urgently require serious training in common sense and basic etiquette.

The emcee called the performance without a proper heads up which meant the dancers with their parents and I had to rush from the seating area to the stage. Don’t get me started on the ridiculous use of words like angels, blessed children, touching performance, etc. to describe the dance presentation.

To access the stage, a dozen people rushed in to lift the dancer with his wheelchair despite the mother repeatedly requesting them not to, warning that it could cause the chair to dismantle. They lifted anyway. The intention was right, but executed wrong and carelessly.

This is the second year this organiser has invited us to perform, and I happened to be involved as the choreographer.
They don’t allow a tech rehearsal, which means I never know what lighting or audio levels my dancers with disabilities will face - we figure it out on stage!

I am sure they feel proud about “giving stage time” to people of determination.
And
Did my dancers do well? Absolutely.
Did they have fun? Yes.
Were the organisers apologetic to the dancer in the wheelchair and his family for not having a ramp? Also yes.

However, they still only acknowledged one particular visible struggle - not the dozen other ways they failed to be inclusive.

The certificates and snack boxes distributed to the dancers post-performance are appreciated, but let’s be honest:
You got the basics of terribly, terribly wrong!