Research Stream: Stories / Lived Experiences
Author: Eva Krolla Research Assistant DANCING, in dialogue with Professor Delia Ferri and Lucy Glover, Executive Producer at Stopgap Dance Company
On 11th April, the contemporary dance piece ‘Lived Fiction’ premiered at Dublin’s Lir Academy Theatre in collaboration with Project Arts Centre (PAC). The piece was commissioned by DANCING, a European Research Council (ERC) funded academic research project based at the School of Law and Criminology of Maynooth University. It was created by Stopgap Dance Company’s Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled creatives under the lead of co-artistic director Lucy Bennett. Stopgap are a global leader of disability access in dance and are based in the UK. ‘Lived Fiction’ artistically embeds accessibility for dancers and audiences through an integrated creative access approach.
‘Lived Fiction’ represents a major milestone for the DANCING project as it marks the completion of the arts-based and empirical research under Work Package 1. It is also the culmination of the collaboration between DANCING and Stopgap. Thus, the premiere of ‘Lived Fiction’ offers an opportunity for reflection on questions of impact, academic-practitioner collaborations and even the implications of Brexit on the (inclusive and accessible) cultural sector. As research assistant in the DANCING project, I have had the opportunity to accompany and support the work of the project bridging legal-doctrinal research with empirical, arts-based and participatory elements. I was recently able to sit down with Professor Delia Ferri, Principal Investigator of DANCING, and Lucy Glover, Executive Producer of Stopgap Dance Company, for a short interview.
Delia, I may begin with you. Could you briefly tell us what the DANCING project is and why it was important to tie this research into a European legal context?
Delia: The Project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths (DANCING)’, funded by the European Research Council (ERC) through a Consolidator Grant, is based at Maynooth University. ERC grants are awarded to an academic researcher (Principal Investigator) on the basis of excellence as sole criterion. Currently, ERC awards are viewed as the gold standard for research funding in Europe.
DANCING explores the right of persons with disabilities to take part in cultural life as an essential aspect of enhancing cultural diversity in the European Union (EU). The project is multilayered. Alongside legal and empirical research, it involves arts-based research. In deploying this method, DANCING has engaged with Stopgap Dance Company, to create a bespoke choreographic piece that embodies the ethos of the project and represents accessibility and inclusivity.
A pan-European dimension is inherent to DANCING. In a post-Brexit context and in an era of Euroscepticism, the EU is often seen as a cumbersome bureaucratic entity fraught by a free-market liberalism ideology. However, now more than ever, it is important to uncover and critically discuss what role the EU can play in promoting an accessible and inclusive culture. EU legislation and funding programmes have a great (yet untapped) potential to support cultural participation of persons with disabilities. Current initiatives, such as the European Disability Card, which the project is investigating, will open up new perspectives when it comes to participation of persons with disabilities in cultural activities across the EU.
To this end, what are some findings of the research and what might the impact of this research be?
Delia: DANCING has identified main barriers operating in all art-forms as well as in cultural heritage across the EU. Differently from previous studies, it has looked at participation of people with a broad range of disability types both as audiences and as creators of culture. It argues for more systematic enforcement of existing laws, for greater knowledge about disability to be embedded within cultural organisations, and for employment of people with disabilities in the cultural sector. Further, DANCING has discussed the role of EU legislation on accessibility, such as the European Accessibility Act and the Web Accessibility Directive, in supporting access to culture.
A range of research outputs have been produced so far, and the performance that took place on 11th April at the Lir Academy Theatre (and was performed again on stage at PAC on 12th April) gave a representation of accessibility, inclusivity and diversity, which are at the core of this project.
Lucy, Stopgap have created a bespoke choreography for DANCING. What are the key features of ‘Lived Fiction’?
Lucy: In developing ‘Lived Fiction’, Lucy Bennett and Stopgap wanted to embrace Integrated Creative Access, considering access as an artistic element to the work itself. As a collective of Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled allies we regularly break from the past, and the traditional, and thrive on the creativity and potential of an alternative way of doing things. We are inspired by the thrill of reinvention, upcycling and translating dance and theatre, and for us creative access is just that, bringing everyone closer to the intentions, beauty and passion of dance.
The insights from Delia and Lucy, from a legal-academic and a cultural practitioner perspective, illuminate the complexity of accessible culture for all. The barriers to cultural participation for persons with disabilities identified by DANCING are multiple and layered. However, such complexity is further exacerbated by political developments such as Brexit. Lucy, you are based in the UK and have long worked in the British cultural sector. Can you talk about what the Arts & Disability landscape was like in the UK before Brexit and how that has shifted or changed in the past couple of years?
Lucy: Prior to Brexit the UK Arts and Culture landscape benefited greatly from freedom of movement, strong relationships and partnerships and access to EU Culture funding. I think, in general, the UK disability arts scene is affected by Brexit in the same way as other UK companies, namely increased costs and labour in exporting to Europe and lack of access to EU cultural and other strategic funding. We do feel like we have missed out hugely in the recent shift of focus in Creative Europe projects like Europe Beyond Access which is a fantastic initiative, but UK companies and venues cannot be a main partner, and our involvement is largely as commissioned artist or third party beneficiary, so we are unable to be at the table when strategic developments are being made. This impacts longer term relationships. We really hope that the UK will rejoin Creative Europe in the future, so that we can get back to collaborating with EU colleagues to make an impact for arts and disability in the UK and EU together.
Delia, do you think Ireland will become an important broker/bridge for UK based organisations working in a European context?
Delia: The long-term impact of Brexit on the cultural sector is not clear to date. The UK has recently rejoined Horizon Europe and Copernicus. This raises hope that the UK might eventually rejoin the Creative Europe programme, allowing the EU, and Ireland within the EU, to maintain and possibly deepen their cultural relationship with the UK. Until this happens, Horizon Europe might be an important avenue for collaboration between different academic partners as well as Irish and British cultural organisations. It is important to leverage these opportunities to continue exchanges and collaborations between the Irish and British cultural sectors.
A final question to both of you: how did you find the collaboration between DANCING and Stopgap?
Delia: While being an academic research project, and alongside advancing the state of knowledge, DANCING aims to have a societal impact. The collaboration with Stopgap and PAC has been important in this respect. Bringing Stopgap on stage and making their work available to the public has been key to enact and effect the ethos of the project.
Lucy: Our involvement with the DANCING research team meant at certain points in the process we could open rehearsals to Deaf, Disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled stakeholders outside of Stopgap. The research conducted by the DANCING team gave us insights that bolstered our reflection, creative process and course of action.
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While law and legal research often seem abstract and detached from the cultural sector, they can have profound effects on the everyday lives of artists and audiences with disabilities. The full impact of DANCING will likely be gauged in years to come, but the collaboration with Stopgap has facilitated mutual learning and knowledge exchange, with a view of understanding accessibility and supporting cultural participation of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.
The DANCING project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme (grant agreement No. 864182).
