Disabled-Only Dance Class (Open Level)

This is a generative, supportive and participatory class for any disabled performers who want to learn professional dance skills.

You will be guided through exercises to develop range and awareness with your body in space, and learn dance sequences drawn from contemporary, ballet, and physical theatre styles - all while discovering your own voice and movement language free from the non-disabled gaze.

“Open Level” means you don’t need dance experience to participate in this class, and if you do have dance experience you will also learn new skills here.

Schedule

9:30am - 9:40am Acknowledgement of Country & Check-in

9:40am - 9:55am Physical Warm-up & Improvisation Exercise

9:55am - 10:00am Break

10:00am - 10:20am Learn Dance Sequence

10:20am - 10:25am Physical Cool-down

10:25am - 10:30am Questions & Check-out

10:30am - 11am Optional peer check-in in Green Room

At the end of this class, there will be a peer discussion space with tea and protein balls in the Green Room. This will be a loosely facilitated space to check-in with peers about how you’re going in your dance journey, and discuss any reflections or learnings from the class.

Is this class for me?

If you are:

• a person with lived experience of disability

• wanting to learn dance skills in a space that isn’t about or involving non-disabled people (support workers are fine if they're only attending to support you and not to gain anything from the space for themself)

• interested in a consensual and communicative learning environment that is both focused and flexible

• someone who enjoys creative challenges and learning new ways of doing things

Then this class is for you.

If you are:

• wanting a free space to dance in without following any rules

• wanting to learn more about dance from people with different bodies or a different neurotype to you

• interested in becoming a better ally to disabled people, or in sharing the space with a support worker or ally artist who wants to learn from disabled teachers

• looking for disabled dancers to work with in inclusive (eg. non-disabled-led) projects

Then this class is not for you. But check out your local nightclubs, disability arts organisations, or learning from books/podcasts/YouTube channels created by disabled people - or doing one of my cultural safety trainings for teachers or indie artists.

Access

King Street Arts Centre in the CBD. Getting here from Perth Train Station is an 8-minute walk / 10-minute flat manual roll. Getting here from Perth Busport is a 7-minute walk / 10-minute manual roll with one long hill. It is next to CPP His Majesty's carpark on Murray St.

Entrance on Murray St has a sliding door, 2 steps, a break, then 3 steps. Accessible entrance on Munster Lane has a locked sliding door - I will email you instructions about this entrance after you register.

This class will be in a different room each time. Here is how to find each room:

• Studio 1: Take lift to Level 2, turn right. Door is on the left.

• Studio 2: Take lift to Level 2, turn left. Door is on the right.

• Studio 3: Take lift to Level 2, turn left. Keep going down the hallway to the end of the metal ramp, door is on the left.

• Large Meeting Room: Take lift to Level 1, turn left. Door is on the right.

You will need to take your shoes off in Studios 1, 2 and 3 (you are welcome to wear socks or dance shoes in these studios, but no stilettos or socks in Studio 2). Due to the old nails in the floorboards, you will need keep your outdoor shoes on in Large Meeting Room (so wear comfy ones on those days if you're walking).

If you're bringing wheels, please wipe them down as best you can on the doormat before entering Studios 1, 2 or 3. I will also have cloths if you want to use these instead.

Lighting will be a mix of warm and natural lighting and is all adjustable.

Music will be mostly acoustic and grounding and sound levels can be adjustable. Sometimes I will play music in the background while I'm giving instructions, but we can also work without background music.

A quiet corner with stim toys and breathing exercises will be set up near the entrance, and you are welcome to sit out anytime.

Only Studio 3 has windows that can be opened. The teacher will always wear an N95 mask, and spare N95 masks and hand sanitiser will be available in the quiet corner.

All rooms have some air conditioning, but as the building is quite old it's best to dress appropriately for the weather. It also helps to wear multiple layers of clothing as you'll likely warm up the more you move.

Studio 2 has a mirror along one wall that can't be covered, Studios 1 and 3 have mirrors that can be turned around, and Large Meeting Room has no mirrors.

This is a consensual touch-only class where students are in control of whether, how much, and in what contexts you want to be touched by the teacher as part of learning movement skills. This class will not involve physical contact unless a student requests physical guidance from me to help them learn a particular step, and I will always navigate this slowly and with verbal consent.

The speed and complexity of movements will always reflect the capacity of everyone in the room - often I will give different options that you can choose from.

The teaching process will involve giving verbal instructions, me demonstrating with my body how to do things, and sometimes giving you clear and practical prompts for discovering new movements yourself through improvisation.

Instructions will always be broken down into manageable amounts. It matters a lot to me that the steps and ideas we're learning are delivered in a way that works for you, so I will always adapt and move at the pace of the room (whether that's faster or slower). There will be ongoing check-ins about pace.

You are always welcome to adjust movements and instructions to make them work for you. I will often check-in with everyone beforehand about how we want to approach specific steps or ideas as a room.

If you are living from bed or home it's absolutely fine to attend over Zoom - just let me know beforehand so I can send you a link. My contact info is at the end of this section.

Currently no more than 10 people can register for a single class, but it's quite likely the classes will have 1 - 3 dancers sometimes.

This class has one facilitator who is a young, queer and Sri Lankan-Australian dancer, actor, choreographer and theatre-maker with dynamic physical disabilities and learning disabilities. I am also a part-time mobility aid-user who alternates between using a manual wheelchair, walker, and cane. You can see some examples of my movement work here: https://www.youtube.com/@patrickgunasekera4618

The protein balls shared during the optional peer check-in after class will be vegan and gluten-free but will often contain nuts and sometimes fruit - I also really love adapting recipes for different dietary needs, so please let me know if you have any allergies so I can invent new ones. All tea will be caffeine-free.

If you have any questions, concerns, requests or feedback about this class, I would love to hear from you - please click "Contact host" under the event dates at the top of the page, or in the Host section below.

Header image by Georgi Ivers, still from dance film "improvised movement of 12.10.2023" by Patrick Gunasekera.