DADAA visits UK inclusive arts festivals

DADAA’s Director of Arts Strategy Julie Barratt and Access Inclusion Producer Jacqueline Homer attended the Scotland’s biennial international inclusive dance festival Gathered Together, Glasgow and multi-form disability arts Unlimited Festival, in London in September 2024. These events brought together artists, activists, and industry leaders and included discussions on advocacy, accessibility in the arts, and the transformative power of creativity to break down barriers and promote social change.

Unlimited is a biennial multi-artform festival showcasing outstanding dance, performance, comedy, music, poetry and visual art by disabled artists. At Unlimited Festival, Julie and Jacqueline attended the CONNECT delegate program and connected with more than 70 international artists and producers. Over the two days they watched performances by artists with disability that included best practice in theatre performance.

Gathered Together 2024 brought together a diverse array of inclusive dance companies, independent disabled dance artists, and those working in inclusive dance. This year’s programme featured local and international guests, including esteemed artists from Sweden, Australia, Spain, Colombia and Japan. The programme included a presentation by Jacqueline and Julie on DADAA’s Access All Arts program and looked at some of the innovative programs that DADAA has developed and delivered over the past decade to ensure arts and cultural events are accessible for audiences with disability.

For Jacqueline, the opportunity to attend two international arts and disability conferences in the UK offered a unique platform to connect with organisations and artists, and explore the intersection of creativity and accessibility. Jacqueline says “I particularly loved seeing a dance piece at Gathered Together which included the Auslan interpreter as a part of the performance”.

 

Made possible through the support of Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries