Events, Experiences
PinErin Ball performs at Cripping the Arts at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, in January 2019. She balances with her hands on the arms of an old wheelchair. Behind her, two long pegs extend from her prosthetic legs.
(Michelle Peek Photography for ReVision), Author provided
Carla Rice, University of Guelph and Kayla Besse, University of Guelph
Have you ever been nervous about going to the theatre?
Maybe you’re unfamiliar with theatre etiquette, maybe you have children or maybe you find it hard to stay still for hours feeling trapped in your seat. In Shakespeare’s day, theatregoers drank, ate and socialized their way through performance.
There is a more generous way to engage with the arts, and related to this, much to learn from disability arts in particular.
Let bodies be bodies
Relaxed performance — an approach to performance that challenges what have developed as strict expectations and codes for audience and performer engagement and behaviour — is making theatre and other types of live performance like fashion shows and musical events more accessible.
As researchers with our own personal experiences with disability and difference, we are interested in the potential of relaxed performance through our work with the ReVision Centre for Art & Social Justice.
Such performances are [...]