Prime Access
August 31, 2016

In past issues, we’ve touched on what it takes to teach particular populations of dancers, from children with autism to Parkinson’s patients. But recently, we’ve been hearing more about the benefits of training dancers with disabilities in the same classroom as traditional students. So when AXIS Dance Company gathered interested parties to discuss access and visibility for dancers with disabilities at Gibney Studios in New York, Dance Teacher writer Lea Marshall was there. Read her thoughtful report, “Doing the Same Thing Differently.” There are some remarkable stories of inspiration and transformation through physically integrated dance. Jenny Ouellette brings us one of these in “Teaching from a Wheelchair.”

And for another but completely different kind of physical integration, Rachel Rizzuto talked with Joanna Mendl Shaw about pairing dancers with horses (“Horse Sense”). Shaw’s story is captivating—especially what she’s learned from equines that can help dancers in the studio.

In the realm of college dance, we were excited to learn about the work of Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She is sharing her embodied knowledge of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company repertory with students there. Joseph Carman reports on the impact of this four-year project.

How many of your students will leave you for college at the end of this year? As their dance teacher, you can be a trusted advisor about the various options. Because we know it’s not easy to stay up-to-date, this issue includes the Dance Teacher “Higher Ed Guide,” one of our most popular resources. Use it as a quick state-by-state look at 149 popular dance-degree programs. When you need to drill down to the finer points, we recommend the Dance Magazine College Guide. Updated every year, there is no directory like it. Order your copy at dancemagazine.com/collegeguide.

Photo by Matthew Murphy

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