Choreographing the disabled spectator: Disrupting audience expectations in Dancer and rampa landscape

Abstract

Representation of ‘differing bodyminds’ in dance has expanded how dancing bodies are imagined. Examining two performances in Helsinki, Finland, Dancer and rampa landscape: lazy, late, absent through collaborative autoethnography we consider in what ways these works might choreograph for disabled spectators. We argue that choreography addressing disability and neurodivergence that does not consider the diverse access needs of spectators, risks creating hermeneutical injustice. This occurs when individuals experience harm due to their inability to understand or articulate their own experiences. Hermeneutical injustice is characterized by inequitable access to disability knowledge and a declarative approach to access where performances, venues and artists claim to be accessible for spectators without attention to what is necessary for access. Through this process, spectators without access needs have more access to the choreographic knowledge of disability. We alternate our experiences of these performances with reflections on spectator access and draw on framing materials to provide context. We focus on how the performance choreographs for disabled spectators – relating our own embodied experiences and observations as audience members. Ultimately, cripping choreography cannot just involve onstage representation; it must consider and welcome the disabled spectator.