INVITATION TO DANCE a documentary film Christian von Tippelskirch & Simi Linton A rare insider’s perspective on the experience of disability in 21st century America
LEARNING MATERIALS TABLE OF CONTENTS A letter to teachers from the filmmakers Film Synopsis Background Teaching INVITATION TO DANCE Goals Learning Objectives Discussion Questions Activities Language Resources Reading To view the trailer, find updates on INVITATION TO DANCE, and read a longer synopsis, visit www.invitationtodancedoc.com. The trailer and the film are both available with closed captioning and audio description. A LETTER TO TEACHERS FROM THE FILMMAKERS Young people today are growing up in a world where disabled* and nondisabled students are more likely to be in the same classrooms, ride together on public transportation, go with their families to the same vacation spots, and apply to the same colleges than ever before. The disability rights movement is just a few decades old, and its promises not fully realized-‐ yet as a society we are moving closer than ever toward integration and inclusion. Today’s high school and college students will inevitably have a roll in shaping this new society. While disabled students have direct personal experience, many are no more likely than their nondisabled peers to have had exposure to the broader disability community, and the ideas and social change they have brought about. The disability community we refer to here represents people with a wide variety of impairments, including sensory, cognitive, mobility, and more. Some of these conditions are visible and some are not readily apparent. The INVITATION TO DANCE team has created this toolkit to help you prepare both disabled and nondisabled students to be active participants in shaping this new era. We would like to hear from you and your students about your experience watching and talking about INVITATION TO DANCE. Cover photo credit: Daniel Dulitz
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You can reach us via our website: www.invitationtodancedoc.com.
Photo credit: Allison Lucas
Our Best, Christian von Tippelskirch & Simi Linton *You’ll notice in these materials that we use what is known as disability-‐first language eg. “disabled people,” rather than people-‐first language eg. “people with disabilities.” For more information, refer to the section on Language.
FILM SYNOPSIS In 1971, Simi Linton was injured while hitchhiking to Washington to protest the war in Vietnam. Suddenly a young disabled college student, she confronted insidious forms of discrimination she couldn’t have imagined before. Over time she joined forces with a vibrant disability community, and realized that political engagement, love, and dance could once again be central to her life. Love for music and dancing liberated Simi from the awkwardness and embarrassment she felt as a young disabled woman. INVITATION TO DANCE traces Simi’s first reluctant foray onto the dance floor at a party to present day when dance has become a central theme in her social life, activism, and work. Ultimately, the film is a never-‐before-‐ told coming out story of disabled people staking their claim to “equality, justice, and a place on the dance floor!” BACKGROUND For too long, disabled people have lived in the shadows – denied basic rights and freedoms, and subjected to institutionalization and segregation. Further, disabled people’s struggles and achievements have been largely absent from public view. In the years between 1971 -‐ when Simi first became disabled -‐ and the present moment, we have witnessed the evolution of the disability rights movement and the emergence of dynamic new ways of thinking about disability. Disabled people are becoming a more visible presence in the social landscape: boarding airplanes, casting votes, performing on stage and screen, and commandeering the dance floor. Despite these recent advances, the estimated 54 million disabled people in the United States encounter persistent discrimination, and many experience vast restrictions on their personal freedom and pursuit of happiness. Laws mandating full inclusion in schools are in place, yet segregated classrooms and restricted environments are the norm for many disabled students. There are talented teachers who are eager to create inclusive and innovative learning environments-‐ yet their efforts are often stymied by issues such as budgetary constraints, rigid curricular standards, and the amount of time that must be devoted to test preparation. These factors work against the flexibility that makes inclusive classrooms succeed. 3
INVITATION TO DANCE is about disability, activism and dance-‐ but more broadly about the lived experience of disability in America. In making this film, we have aimed to explore some of the entrenched attitudes that deepen the divide between the dominant non-‐disabled majority and disabled people. We have sought to reveal disability in a new light-‐ as a civil rights and social justice issue. A common rallying cry of the Disability Rights Movement is “Nothing about us without us” a recognition that policy and practice about disabled people have historically been set largely by nondisabled people. Increasingly, disabled people are demanding a place at the table, a role in decision-‐making, and more accurate and authentic representation in the media. The theme of dance that pervades the film challenges the assumption that disabled people can’t (or shouldn’t) dance. The film confronts this discrimination head-‐on, and reveals a fun-‐loving cadre of disabled people who defy every stereotype ever written.
Photo credit: Allison Lucas
TEACHING INVITATION TO DANCE The film is suited to a wide variety of high school curricula (including American History, Social Studies, Arts and more), or college curricula (including Disability Studies, Dance, Sociology, History, Anthropology, Architecture, Womens Studies and more). It works well as an interdisciplinary program, bringing together students from a variety of courses. The filmmakers, Christian von Tippleskirch and Simi Linton are available to come to your school in person or via Skype. For more information or to arrange a visit, please contact Jeff Tamblyn at our distributor Kino Lorber:
[email protected] (212)629-‐6880 4
GOALS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES The following section includes some suggested Goals and Objectives to consider for the film INVITATION TO DANCE. Please create your own lists based on your “reading” of the film, and the content and objectives of your course. GOALS •
Increase understanding that “disability” is a socially constructed category, and the social positioning of disabled people is more clearly a result of that construction, rather than a by-‐product of people’s physical, cognitive, sensory or other conditions
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Increase the visibility of disabled people’s issues
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Increase the visibility of disabled people’s ideas and contributions
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Increase disabled people’s participation in and contribution to the social, political and cultural life of their communities
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Advance the integration of the arts – from training to production
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Destigmatize disability
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Increase advocacy for disabled peoples’ participation in school activities, field trips, religious or community institution
LEARNING OBJECTIVES •
As a result of watching INVITATION TO DANCE and having in-‐depth discussions about the film, students will be able to:
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Recognize that society creates “disability” by imposing social, cultural and political barriers to full participation in society
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Identify barriers that disabled people face in their everyday lives
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Identify environments and social situations that are welcoming for disabled people and those that are discriminatory and uncomfortable
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Identify how hidden biases and stereotypical thinking have influenced their own views of disability
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Recognize the arts, dance in particular, as a viable recreational activity or career for disabled people
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Recognize that true integration and inclusion is not simply about being nice to people, it is about going the distance to ensure that equality and justice for all people is achieved
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Note: some of these items pertain to scenes that are only in the 86 minute version of the film. What is INVITATION TO DANCE about? What are some of the ideas the film explores? Why do people protest? For what cause would you demonstrate? What may be some benefits and some risks? 5
What does it mean to have rights? Why are rights important? Who do rights benefit? Dancing and disability often don’t usually “go together” in most people’s heads. Why is that? In what ways has this documentary challenged common ideas about disability and dance? Why/how is disability (or any other marker of identity) “political?” The film opens with Simi going on a trip. What do the various forms of travel/phases of the trip reveal about accessibility? Often, disability is characterized as a deficit, something wrong, shameful. Where do these messages come from? How are disability rights similar to or different from African-‐American rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights? Explain your reasoning, providing examples. One featured speaker shared that as a child, she lived in a residential institution because “that’s where kids with disabilities went.” What do you think that experience may have been like for her or other children? Simi describes beginning college at The New School, and her odyssey finding a bathroom that ultimately had no privacy. Bearing this in mind, in what ways is your school building either accessible or an obstacle course to students with physical disabilities? What are some defining moments of the Disability Rights Movement?* *For more information about this, refer to Fleischer and Zames book on the reading list. Disabled people are often described as “inspirational,” something Simi and her friends make fun of. What do you think bothers them about people saying that? At the Veterans Day Parade, we see a banner that says “The greatest casualty is being forgotten” (the motto of the Wounded Warriors Project). What are some of the social injustices that many returning disabled veterans face?
Photo credit: Virginia Lloyd
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Have you heard the phrase “the personal is political’? What does it mean? Discuss how this idea is relevant to INVITATION TO DANCE. What is stigma? Where does stigma come from? How does stigma develop? Why do we stigmatize people? What are the impacts of stigma? Consider your every-‐day environment – how often do you see disabled people in the course of a day? What roles do they play? Are they in positions of authority? Are they active in their community? Are they with friends, colleagues or family? Consider your media environment – how often do you see disabled people represented in the film, TV or videos you watch, or books you read? What roles do they play? Are they in positions of authority? Are they active in their community? Are they with friends, colleagues or family? What kinds of relationships do they have with others – friends, romantic partners, colleagues etc? Do you know if the actors playing disabled characters in movies and television you watch are actually disabled? If you do know, does that affect your experience? In what way(s)? Identify some public figures with disabilities (historic or present day). Identify some of the current and historic barriers to equal participation of disabled people in society. What has changed and what hasn’t in the decades that INVITATION TO DANCE covers? Identify some opportunities and experiences that disabled people are often denied [distinguish between things people cant do because of their own physical, cognitive or sensory conditions, from things they are barred from doing because of the ways society creates barriers to full participation]. Consider education, the arts, family life, the workplace, or participation in democracy, social events, cultural events, artistic endeavors, sports and more. Choose one person you know – anyone – who you think should see INVITATION TO DANCE. Write a paragraph or two telling them about the film and why you think s/he in particular should see it. ACTIVITIES Activity 1: Have students write responses to the following questions, then in groups of four, instruct them to have a structured conversation about their responses. Following the discussion, the group determines what changes they believe should be made and what they, as citizens can do to promote those changes. What are some of the messages conveyed in INVITATION TO DANCE? What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? What do you aspire to do yourself to promote the goals of the film? What obstacles stand in the way of changes that you believe should take place? What can you do to promote change and remove some of the obstacles? 7
Activity 2: Imagine a friend comes to visit. Your friend is about your age, and has many similar interests. Let’s say your friend uses a wheelchair, or is blind or deaf (if you have a disability, choose a different condition for your friend). What things would you plan to do with your friend? What places might you go to? Do you think they would be fully accessible to her/him? Why or why not? Do you think your friend would feel welcome there? Why or why not? What barriers might you anticipate? Consider buildings, transportation, movies or cultural events, dinner with your family, joining you for a day at your school, or any extracurricular activities you have. Activity 3: Rate the wheelchair accessibility of places in your hometown (restaurant, store, church, etc) using AXSmap: www.axsmap.com AXS Map (access map) is a crowd-‐sourced tool for sharing reviews on the wheelchair accessibility of businesses and places. For some it’s surprising to learn that as many as nine out of ten businesses on a city block may be inaccessible. Activity 4: Create the Audio Description for a YouTube video. You can read more about Audio Description below. In essence, it provides description of visual elements of a video for people who are blind or visually impaired. In doing this, imagine you have a friend who is blind and you want your friend to be able to watch the video with you. What is Audio Description? http://www.acb.org/adp/ad.html You’ll find many examples of Audio Described videos on this site. You can add your voice to one of them or choose your own YouTube favorite. http://youdescribe.org/
Photo credit: Allison Lucas
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Activity 5: Go to the website: https://adata.org/learn-‐about-‐ada Read about the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). What do you think has changed in the 25 years since the law was passed? What does the film INVITATION TO DANCE tell us about what has not changed? Consider areas such as transportation, employment, education or another area you are particularly interested in. Activity 6: Please go to our Facebook page and join the conversation. “Like” our page, and leave comments about the screening you attended, what happened there and any thoughts about the film you would like to share. www.facebook.com/invitationtodancefilm LANGUAGE Ableism Discrimination against disabled people http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ableism Disabled people or people with disabilities? The term that is often used in schools and in general conversation to describe the group is “people with disabilities.” This construction is what is known as “people-‐first language.” The idea behind that is to encourage people to assert that s/he is a person first, and that disability is secondary. Throughout INVITATION TO DANCE, you will hear the term “disabled people.” Simi describes herself as a “disabled woman.” She and many in her circle use what is known as “disability-‐first language” – forefronting their identity. Though people-‐first language aims to minimize prejudicial attitudes, it actually reinforces a negative idea-‐ the construction seeks to minimize disability based on the notion that it is a negative characteristic. Disabled/nondisabled The terms disabled and nondisabled are used frequently to designate membership within or outside the community. Disabled is centered, and nondisabled is placed in the peripheral position in order to look at the world from the inside out, to expose the perspective and expertise that is silenced. The use of nondisabled is strategic: to center disability. Mixed ability dance companies or physically integrated dance companies? The term mixed ability sounds like there are some dancers in the company that are good, and others that are not so good. Physically integrated is the term many dancers and dance companies use. This term implies there are equal roles for disabled and nondisabled dancers. A limitation of this term, though, is that it focuses solely on people with mobility impairments. Wheelchair User vs wheelchair-‐bound or confined to a wheelchair Disabled people are more likely to say that someone uses a wheelchair. It not only indicates the active nature of the user and the positive way that wheelchairs increase mobility and activity, but recognizes that people get in and out of wheelchairs for different activities: driving a car, going swimming, or sitting on the couch. For more information on language read chapter 2 of Simi Linton’s book Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity http://nyupress.org/books/9780814751343/ 9
RESOURCES AXIS Dance Company www.axisdance.org Oakland, California based physically integrated dance company featured in INVITATION TO DANCE Heidi Latsky Dance http://heidilatskydance.com New York City based dance company The GIMP Project http://heidilatskydance.com/gimp-‐project Physically integrated dance pieces created by Heidi Latsky Dance featured in INVITATION TO DANCE Alice Sheppard www.alicesheppard.com Dancer featured in INVITATION TO DANCE Full Radius Dance www.fullradiusdance.org Atlanta, Georgia based physically integrated dance company Bill Shannon “Crutchmaster” www.whatiswhat.com Dancer who dances on crutches and skateboards Claire Cunningham www.clairecunningham.co.uk Glasgow, Scotland based dancer who dances on and with crutches The Society for Disability Studies www.disstudies.org The Society for Disability Studies (SDS) is a non-‐profit organization that promotes the study of disability in social, cultural, and political contexts Disability in Kidlit http://disabilityinkidlit.com Site dedicated to discussing the portrayal of disability in middle grade and young adult literature, featuring guest contributors from both the YA/MG and disability communities–readers, writers, bloggers, activists, and more. Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) www.ahead.org AHEAD is a professional membership organization for individuals involved in the development of policy and in the provision of quality services to meet the needs of persons with disabilities involved in all areas of higher education. 10
Photo credit: Virginia Lloyd
Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD) www.un.org/disabilities The CRPD is an international disability rights treaty Syracuse University – Disability Studies Resources http://thechp.syr.edu/resources/disability-‐studies Disability Studies Social History Project www.disabilityhistory.org/dshp.html The New Paradigm of Disability-‐ A Bibliography http://aboutdisability.com/bib.html Chapman University – Disability Studies Website for Teachers https://blogs.chapman.edu/happenings/2013/11/14/ph-‐d-‐students-‐aim-‐to-‐help-‐classroom-‐ teachers-‐with-‐unique-‐disability-‐studies-‐website READING Linton, Simi (1998) Claiming Disability: Knowledge and Identity, New York University Press http://nyupress.org/books/9780814751343/ Linton, Simi (2006) My Body Politic, University of Michigan Press www.press.umich.edu/164083/my_body_politic Baglieri, S. & Shapiro, A. (2012) Disability studies and the inclusive classroom. New York: Taylor & Francis 11
Good “background”/historical and also practical book with the following sections: Disability & Society; Disability in History; Disability and Education; Curriculum for the Inclusive Classroom Connor, David; Hale, Chris; Valle, Jan W. (2015) Practicing Disability Studies in Education: Acting Toward Social Change, Peter Lang Publishing USA This book has 3 chapters by educators (classroom practitioners and/or scholars) in each section of theory, research, practice, policy who share how they use disability studies in their daily work. Connor, D. J. (2013) Social Justice for Children With Disabilities. In L. Gurian (Ed.) The Handbook of Special Education (pp.111-‐128). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE www.academia.edu/5095959/Social_Justice_in_Education_for_Students_with_Disabilities Connor, D. J. (2013) Who “Owns” Dis/ability? The Work of Critical Special Educators as Insider Outsiders. Theory and Research in Social Education, 41(4), 494-‐513 www.academia.edu/5095930/Who_Owns_Dis_ability_The_Cultural_Work_of_Critical_Special_Ed ucators_as_Insider_Outsiders Danforth, S. (Ed.). Becoming a great inclusive educator. New York: Peter Lang A collection of short chapters written by actual teachers and professors who collaborate with them Gabel, S., & Connor, D. J. (2014) Teaching and Disability, Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Nussbaum, Susan (2013) Good Kings Bad Kings: A Novel, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill Rousso, Harrilyn (2013) Don’t Call Me Inspirational, Temple University Press Ware, L. (2001) Writing, Identity, and The Other: Dare We Do Disabilities Sudies? Journal of Teacher Education, 52(2), 107-‐123. Zames Fleischer, Doris; Zames, Frieda (2011) The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation, Temple University Press These learning materials were prepared by Simi Linton, Allison Lucas, and Christian von Tippelskirch. Invaluable contributions came from: Dr. David J. Connor School of Education Hunter College, CUNY Victor Jaccarino Team leader New York State Education Department’s review of the Common Core Learning Standards
The learning materials for INVITATION TO DANCE have been created and disseminated with the generous support of Richard and Florence Weiner’s Bubkes Fund 12
