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Dancing through the barriers to inclusion By Dr Olivia Karaolis
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mici Dance Theatre is celebrating its 40th birthday this year. Unless you are planning a trip to the UK soon, seeing one of their performances or attending their workshops will only be possible online. It is worth it? I was introduced to Amici Dance Theatre at an Orff Schulwerk Conference over 20 years ago. Wolfgang Stange, the artistic director led several workshops, that for my thinking, teaching and creativity were transformational.
attempted to correct their deficits while being blind to their strengths. Wolfgang Stange introduced me to teaching strategies that removed the greatest barrier to my students learning - words. His approach, and that of Amici Dance draws on movement, dance, drama, and other forms of expression. Their performances and workshops are inclusive, bringing dancers with and without disabilities together to create.
“Without hope we would be lost indeed. Amici shows that sharing and celebrating each other’s difference is the only way forward”
A sweeping statement, absolutely, and one that can cannot capture the shift in my practice and understanding of the possibilities of the creative arts. I had just started teaching a class of five- to seven-year-old children with disabilities. The program aimed to support the students by “getting them ready” for mainstream school. As I look back, I wonder why they “had to get ready” and question schools that should “be ready” for every student.
The company is artist-in-residence at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith and is now internationally recognised for its voice in changing the perception of disability and the arts.
I was not ready, teaching in a way that was not suited to my students, that
At Amici, everyone is welcome to attend the weekly workshops. I ask
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August/September 2022
- WOLFGANG STANGE
myself the same about our schools. Can we look to Amici and see the possibilities for a truly inclusive school, one in which everyone is welcome? My classroom grew to one that supported children to share their talents, interests, and themselves. We were a place where everyone belonged. www.amicidance.org Dr Olivia Karaolis teaches at Sydney University Faculty of Education & Social Work