Skills Dance promotes disability rights, diversity
Updated: 5:54 p.m. EDT May 27, 2021
Hide transcript Show transcript
About the recent redesign of the Firebird. >> The reporter: THIS 26 YEAR OLD DANCER HAS BEEN A DANCER FOR 4 AGES. MOVING AN ACTUAL PART OF YOUR LIFE, BUT AFTER SPINAL SURGERY IN 2010, SHE HAD TO CHANGE HOW IT MOVES. SHE DANCES UPS AT TIMES WITH POSSIBLE HELP, BUT NOT ALWAYS. SEVERAL YEARS AGO WHILE STUDYING AT WELLESLEY COLLEGE, SHE LOOKED FOR OPPORTUNITIES. >> PEOPLE LIKE ME TELL STORIES – [INDISCERNIBLE] CREATE A ROOM. It has grown beyond me. >> The Reporter: IT HAS GROWED INTO DANCE SKILLS, A DANCE COMPANY MADE OF PERFORMERS WITH DIFFERENT BODIES AS SHE DESCRIBED, SOME WITH DISABILITIES AND SOME WITHOUT. All on a mission to make fine art while promoting diversity and inclusion. THIS ORIGINAL MANUFACTURE OF THE CLASSIC FIREBIRD BALLET CONTAINS AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS FOR THE VISION RESTRICTED, ALSO CAPTIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS FOR THE Hearing Impaired. >> COMPLETE CHOREOGRAPHY AND JUST REMEMBER US A NEW STORY AND TELL OUR OWN STORIES. >> PEOPLE ARE MORE THAN JUST A FACTOR. Your identity. EVERY PERSON HAS THIS WHOLE PACKAGE OF IDENTITIES, AND WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO REALIZE THIS IN OTHERS so we can take care of others. >> The Reporter: BRADFORD CHIN TRAVELED HARD ON THE ROAD FROM CALIFORNIA TO PERFORM, LIKE ANTOINE HUNTER. >> I love to dance. It’s a way of communicating with the world. I lived through discrimination as a child as if there was no place for me in the world. The dance saved my life. >> The reporter: FROM EVERYONE ABOVE, THE COMPANY RECEIVED MOST REHEARSALS VIRTUALLY. THAT COMES TOGETHER, SO IMPORTANT. >> FIREBIRD TO DO WITH A PERSON WITH DISABILITY AND – [INDISCERNIBLE] DISABLED WOMAN AND FEELING – [INDISCERNIBLE] ‘It’s a homecoming for me. I want to be part of it. It is so rare to be involved in it. >> The Reporter: ELISE IS NOT ONLY THE FOUNDER OF SKILL DANCE, ALSO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF NON-PROFIT, BALLET ROCKS, A POST AND SCHOOL DANCE PROGRAM THAT SERVES BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS. LEARN MORE ABOUT BOTH ORGANIZATIONS ON WCVB.
Skills Dance promotes disability rights, diversity
Updated: 5:54 p.m. EDT May 27, 2021
Ellice Patterson, 26, has been a dancer since she was four.
Ellice Patterson, 26, has been a dancer since she was four.
Comments are closed.