InVisible Difference: Disability, Dance and Law

InVisible Difference will provide an overview of the three year AHRC-funded project examining the intersections between disability, dance and law. A short explanation will describe our research methods including documentary analysis, expert forums, interview data and micro-ethnographies. This will provide an
overview of the empirical research that we have conducted to date. The InVisible Difference poster will also provide brief research findings from the interview data explaining that the law fails to sufficiently interact with the creative process and the dis/ability of the choreographer or performer. We suggest that the law also lacks flexibility in its application to the work depending on whether the artist works alone or with a team. Further, we explain that artists are not aware of the legal protections in place for their work. Finally, we state that the
public lack the critical language necessary to sufficiently discuss dance created by differently abled individuals without resorting to a paternalistic approach, as dictated by the medical model.