Letting Bodies be Bodies: Exploring Relaxed Performance in the Canadian Performance Landscape
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v15i2.2430Keywords:
relaxed performance, theatre, access, accessibility, legislationAbstract
There is an increasing movement toward accessibility in arts spaces, including recent legislative changes and commitments at individual, organizational, and systemic levels to integrating access into the arts across Canada. In this article, we explore Relaxed Performance (RP) in the context of this movement. We present the results of a reflexive thematic analysis of interviews conducted with participants who completed RP training offered by the British Council to . understand the training’s effectiveness and impact. We explore the significance of the training, and of RP in general, and in relation to disability studies and cultural and political activism. We undertake this exploration against a backdrop of interrogating who RP is for and by. The themes we describe are: Committed to Access, Training is Critical, Inviting Bodies to be Bodies, and Imagining Audiences. These themes tell a story of how RP relates to broader access work, the importance of training grounded in and led by disability/difference, the need to consider the relationships between bodies and spaces, and the tensions inherent to billing RP as “for all.” We conclude with an exploration of possible modifications, enhancements, or theoretical imaginings that could help RP to become more radically open to difference as it emerges, shifts, and changes.
References
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, SO 2005, c. 11 Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/05a11
Bill 59, Accessibility Act, Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2017, Nova Scotia, Retrieved from https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/accessibility.pdf
Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada, SC 2019 c. 10, 1st session, 42nd Parliament, Retrieved from https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/421/Government/C-81/C-81_4/C-81_4.PDF Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health, 11(4), 589-597.
Brown, L. (2011) The significance of semantics: Person-first language: Why it matters. Autistic Hoya Blog. https://www.autistichoya.com/2011/08/significance-of-semantics-person-first.html
Chandler, E., Changfoot, N., Rice, C., LaMarre, A. & Mykitiuk, R. (2018). Cultivating disability arts in Ontario. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 40(3), 249-264.
Charlton, J.I. (1998) Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cock, M., Pountney, M., Sharpe, M., Taylor, N., & Thom, J. (2019). State of Theatre Access 2019. Retrieved from https://vocaleyes.co.uk/state-of-theatre-access-2019/.
Conroy, C. (2009). Disability: creative tensions between drama, theatre and disability arts. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 14(1), 1-14.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1, Art. 8, 138–67.
Crippledscholar. (2017). Euphemisms for disability are infantilizing. Retrieved from https://crippledscholar.com/2017/11/12/euphemisms-for-disability-are-infantalizing/.
Douglas, P., Rice, C., Runswick-Cole, K., Easton, A., Gibson, M.F., Gruson-Wood, J., Klar, E., & Shields, R. (2019). Re-storying autism: A body becoming disability studies in education approach. International Journal of Inclusive Education,
The Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts Alliance of Canada. (nd). https://ddmaac.weebly.com/
Fineman, M.A. (2008). The vulnerable subject: Anchoring equality in the human condition. Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, 20, Article 2, 1-22.
Fineman, M.A. (2017). Vulnerability and Inevitable Inequality. Oslo Law Review, 4, 133-149.
Fletcher-Watson, B. (2015). Relaxed performance: Audiences with Autism in mainstream theatre. The Scottish Journal of Performance, 2(2), 61-89.
Fletcher-Watson, B. & May, S. (2018). Enhancing relaxed performance: Evaluating the Autism Arts Festival. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 23(3), 406-420.
Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gardner, L. (2016). Diversity in theatre: why is disability being left out? (Feb 16, 2016), The Guardian, retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2016/feb/16/disability-theatre-diversity-arena-wolverhampton
Hadley, B. (2017). Disability theatre in Australia: A survey and a sector ecology. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), 305-324.
Handler, R. (2016). Stop excluding actors with disabilities. (Feb 10, 2016) Backstage. Retrieved from https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/stop-excluding-actors-disabilities-7387/
Kempe, A. (2014). Developing social skills in Autistic children through ‘Relaxed Performances’.” Support for Learning, 29(3), 261–274.
Kempe, A. (2015). Widening participation in theatre through ‘Relaxed Performances’.” New Theatre Quarterly, 31(1), 59–69.
Koltsida, M. & Lenakakis, A. (2017). Contemporary performance by and for those with disabilities: The case of Greece. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), 339-344.
Mitchell, G., Rice C. & Pileggi, V. (2018). Co-emergence: an art-full dance of inquiry into artists’ experiences of making art. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 23(4), 563-581.
Naraine, M.D., Whitfield, M.R. & Fels, D. (2018). Who’s devising your theatre experience? A director’s approach to inclusive theatre for blind and low vision theatregoers. Visual Communication, 17(1), 113-133.
Mingus, M. (2011). Access intimacy: the missing link. Retrieved from https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/access-intimacy-the-missing-link/.
Mingus, M. interviewed by MacDougall, G. (2013). Video interview. Retrieved from https://equitableeducation.ca/2013/mia-mingus-disability-justice
Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. New York, NY, US: St Martin's Press.
Raskin, J.D., (2002). Constructivism in psychology: Personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and social constructivism. American Communication Journal, 5(3), 1-25.
Rice, C., Zitzelsberger, H., Porch, W., & Ignagni, E. (2009). Creating community across disability and difference. T. Titchkovsky & R. Michalko, (Eds.), Disability Studies Reader (pp. 318-329). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Harrison, E., Liddiard, K. & Ferrari, M. (2015). Project Re•Vision: disability at the edges of representation. Disability & Society, 30(4), 513-527.
Rice, C., Chandler, E. & Changfoot, N. (2016). Imagining otherwise: The ephemeral spaces of envisioning new meanings. C. Kelly & M. Orsini (Eds.). Mobilizing Metaphor: Art, culture and disability activism in Canada. (pp. 54-75). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Liddiard, K., Rinaldi, J., & Harrison, E. (2018). The pedagogical possibilities for unruly bodies. Gender & Education, 30(5), 663-682.
Rice, C. Chandler, E., Fisher, L., Tidgwell, T., Changfoot, N., Mündel, I. & Dion, S. (2018). Guiding Principles for Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life. Re•Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Justice, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Rice, C. & Mündel, I. (2019). Multimedia storytelling methodology: Notes on access and inclusion in neoliberal times. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 8(2), 118-146.
Rice, C. (accepted). Re-storying the human through digital/ multi-media storytelling. In Crawford, P., Brown, B., & Charise, A., (Eds.), Companion for Health Humanities. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Fisher, L., Tidgwell, T., Changfoot, N., Mündel, I., and Dion, S. (2019). Principles of Governance and Engagement. Guelph, ON: Bodies in Translation. Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life (BIT).
Rice, C., & Chandler, E. (2020). Representing difference: Disability, digital storytelling, and public pedagogy. In K. Ellis, G. Goggin, B. Haller & R. Curtis (Eds.). Routledge Companion to Disability and Media. (pp. 1-10). New York: Routledge.
Romer, C. (2017). Relaxed performances slammed for segregating audiences https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/relaxed-performances-slammed-segregating-audiences
Runswick-Cole, K., Mallett, R. & Timimi, S. (Eds)(2016). Re-thinking autism: Diagnosis, identity and equality. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Sandahl, C. (2008). Why disability identity matters: From dramaturgy to casting in John Belluso's Pyretown. Text and Performance Quarterly, 28(1-2), 225-241, DOI: 10.1080/10462930701754481
Sequenzia, A. nd. Person first language and ableism. https://ollibean.com/person-first-language-and-ableism/
Simpson, H. (2017). Jess Thom’s Not I: The relaxed performance and Tourette’s syndrome. The Beckett Circle: Theatre Review, 24 August 2017.
Simpson, H. (2018). Tics in the theatre: The quiet audience, the relaxed performance, and the neurodivergent spectator. Theatre Topics, 28(3), 227-238
Taormina-Weiss, W. (2013). In pursuit of disability justice. In Henderson, G. & Long, W.C. Introduction to human relations studies: Academic foundations and selected social justice issues (pp. 279-283). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publishers Ltd.
The Accessibility for Manitobans Act, 2018, C.C.S.M. c. A1.7, Retrieved from https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/a001-7e.php#
Thom, J. (2015). ‘Relaxed’ vs. ‘extra live’. Touretteshero. Retrieved from https://www.touretteshero.com/2015/02/21/%E2%80%98relaxed%E2%80%99-vs-%E2%80%98extra-live%E2%80%99/
Vibrafusion Lab. (nd). VibraFusionLab: Bridging Practices In Accessibility, Art and Communication. https://vflvibrations.com/
Viscardis, K., Rice, C., Pileggi, V., Underhill, A., Changfoot, N., & Chandler, E. (advanced online publication). Difference within and without. Qualitative Health Research. DOI: 1049732318808252.
Watkin, J. (2017). Inclusive theatre space: Bursting through boundaries of spatial restrictions, one project at a time. Canadian Theatre Review, 170, 103-107.
Whitfield, M. & Fels, D.I. (2015). Inclusive design, audio description and diversity
of theatre experiences. The Design Journal: An International Journal for All Aspects of Design, 16(2), 219-238.
Wooster, R. (2009). Creative inclusion in community theatre: a journey with Odyssey
Theatre. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 14(1), 79-90.
Bill 59, Accessibility Act, Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2017, Nova Scotia, Retrieved from https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/accessibility.pdf
Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada, SC 2019 c. 10, 1st session, 42nd Parliament, Retrieved from https://www.parl.ca/Content/Bills/421/Government/C-81/C-81_4/C-81_4.PDF Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2019). Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise, and Health, 11(4), 589-597.
Brown, L. (2011) The significance of semantics: Person-first language: Why it matters. Autistic Hoya Blog. https://www.autistichoya.com/2011/08/significance-of-semantics-person-first.html
Chandler, E., Changfoot, N., Rice, C., LaMarre, A. & Mykitiuk, R. (2018). Cultivating disability arts in Ontario. Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 40(3), 249-264.
Charlton, J.I. (1998) Nothing about us without us: Disability oppression and empowerment. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cock, M., Pountney, M., Sharpe, M., Taylor, N., & Thom, J. (2019). State of Theatre Access 2019. Retrieved from https://vocaleyes.co.uk/state-of-theatre-access-2019/.
Conroy, C. (2009). Disability: creative tensions between drama, theatre and disability arts. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 14(1), 1-14.
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1, Art. 8, 138–67.
Crippledscholar. (2017). Euphemisms for disability are infantilizing. Retrieved from https://crippledscholar.com/2017/11/12/euphemisms-for-disability-are-infantalizing/.
Douglas, P., Rice, C., Runswick-Cole, K., Easton, A., Gibson, M.F., Gruson-Wood, J., Klar, E., & Shields, R. (2019). Re-storying autism: A body becoming disability studies in education approach. International Journal of Inclusive Education,
The Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts Alliance of Canada. (nd). https://ddmaac.weebly.com/
Fineman, M.A. (2008). The vulnerable subject: Anchoring equality in the human condition. Yale Journal of Law & Feminism, 20, Article 2, 1-22.
Fineman, M.A. (2017). Vulnerability and Inevitable Inequality. Oslo Law Review, 4, 133-149.
Fletcher-Watson, B. (2015). Relaxed performance: Audiences with Autism in mainstream theatre. The Scottish Journal of Performance, 2(2), 61-89.
Fletcher-Watson, B. & May, S. (2018). Enhancing relaxed performance: Evaluating the Autism Arts Festival. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 23(3), 406-420.
Garland-Thomson, R. (1997). Extraordinary bodies: Figuring physical disability in American culture and literature. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gardner, L. (2016). Diversity in theatre: why is disability being left out? (Feb 16, 2016), The Guardian, retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2016/feb/16/disability-theatre-diversity-arena-wolverhampton
Hadley, B. (2017). Disability theatre in Australia: A survey and a sector ecology. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), 305-324.
Handler, R. (2016). Stop excluding actors with disabilities. (Feb 10, 2016) Backstage. Retrieved from https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/stop-excluding-actors-disabilities-7387/
Kempe, A. (2014). Developing social skills in Autistic children through ‘Relaxed Performances’.” Support for Learning, 29(3), 261–274.
Kempe, A. (2015). Widening participation in theatre through ‘Relaxed Performances’.” New Theatre Quarterly, 31(1), 59–69.
Koltsida, M. & Lenakakis, A. (2017). Contemporary performance by and for those with disabilities: The case of Greece. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 22(3), 339-344.
Mitchell, G., Rice C. & Pileggi, V. (2018). Co-emergence: an art-full dance of inquiry into artists’ experiences of making art. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 23(4), 563-581.
Naraine, M.D., Whitfield, M.R. & Fels, D. (2018). Who’s devising your theatre experience? A director’s approach to inclusive theatre for blind and low vision theatregoers. Visual Communication, 17(1), 113-133.
Mingus, M. (2011). Access intimacy: the missing link. Retrieved from https://leavingevidence.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/access-intimacy-the-missing-link/.
Mingus, M. interviewed by MacDougall, G. (2013). Video interview. Retrieved from https://equitableeducation.ca/2013/mia-mingus-disability-justice
Oliver, M. (1996). Understanding disability: From theory to practice. New York, NY, US: St Martin's Press.
Raskin, J.D., (2002). Constructivism in psychology: Personal construct psychology, radical constructivism, and social constructivism. American Communication Journal, 5(3), 1-25.
Rice, C., Zitzelsberger, H., Porch, W., & Ignagni, E. (2009). Creating community across disability and difference. T. Titchkovsky & R. Michalko, (Eds.), Disability Studies Reader (pp. 318-329). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Harrison, E., Liddiard, K. & Ferrari, M. (2015). Project Re•Vision: disability at the edges of representation. Disability & Society, 30(4), 513-527.
Rice, C., Chandler, E. & Changfoot, N. (2016). Imagining otherwise: The ephemeral spaces of envisioning new meanings. C. Kelly & M. Orsini (Eds.). Mobilizing Metaphor: Art, culture and disability activism in Canada. (pp. 54-75). Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Liddiard, K., Rinaldi, J., & Harrison, E. (2018). The pedagogical possibilities for unruly bodies. Gender & Education, 30(5), 663-682.
Rice, C. Chandler, E., Fisher, L., Tidgwell, T., Changfoot, N., Mündel, I. & Dion, S. (2018). Guiding Principles for Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life. Re•Vision: The Centre for Art and Social Justice, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
Rice, C. & Mündel, I. (2019). Multimedia storytelling methodology: Notes on access and inclusion in neoliberal times. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 8(2), 118-146.
Rice, C. (accepted). Re-storying the human through digital/ multi-media storytelling. In Crawford, P., Brown, B., & Charise, A., (Eds.), Companion for Health Humanities. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis.
Rice, C., Chandler, E., Fisher, L., Tidgwell, T., Changfoot, N., Mündel, I., and Dion, S. (2019). Principles of Governance and Engagement. Guelph, ON: Bodies in Translation. Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life (BIT).
Rice, C., & Chandler, E. (2020). Representing difference: Disability, digital storytelling, and public pedagogy. In K. Ellis, G. Goggin, B. Haller & R. Curtis (Eds.). Routledge Companion to Disability and Media. (pp. 1-10). New York: Routledge.
Romer, C. (2017). Relaxed performances slammed for segregating audiences https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/relaxed-performances-slammed-segregating-audiences
Runswick-Cole, K., Mallett, R. & Timimi, S. (Eds)(2016). Re-thinking autism: Diagnosis, identity and equality. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Sandahl, C. (2008). Why disability identity matters: From dramaturgy to casting in John Belluso's Pyretown. Text and Performance Quarterly, 28(1-2), 225-241, DOI: 10.1080/10462930701754481
Sequenzia, A. nd. Person first language and ableism. https://ollibean.com/person-first-language-and-ableism/
Simpson, H. (2017). Jess Thom’s Not I: The relaxed performance and Tourette’s syndrome. The Beckett Circle: Theatre Review, 24 August 2017.
Simpson, H. (2018). Tics in the theatre: The quiet audience, the relaxed performance, and the neurodivergent spectator. Theatre Topics, 28(3), 227-238
Taormina-Weiss, W. (2013). In pursuit of disability justice. In Henderson, G. & Long, W.C. Introduction to human relations studies: Academic foundations and selected social justice issues (pp. 279-283). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas Publishers Ltd.
The Accessibility for Manitobans Act, 2018, C.C.S.M. c. A1.7, Retrieved from https://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/ccsm/a001-7e.php#
Thom, J. (2015). ‘Relaxed’ vs. ‘extra live’. Touretteshero. Retrieved from https://www.touretteshero.com/2015/02/21/%E2%80%98relaxed%E2%80%99-vs-%E2%80%98extra-live%E2%80%99/
Vibrafusion Lab. (nd). VibraFusionLab: Bridging Practices In Accessibility, Art and Communication. https://vflvibrations.com/
Viscardis, K., Rice, C., Pileggi, V., Underhill, A., Changfoot, N., & Chandler, E. (advanced online publication). Difference within and without. Qualitative Health Research. DOI: 1049732318808252.
Watkin, J. (2017). Inclusive theatre space: Bursting through boundaries of spatial restrictions, one project at a time. Canadian Theatre Review, 170, 103-107.
Whitfield, M. & Fels, D.I. (2015). Inclusive design, audio description and diversity
of theatre experiences. The Design Journal: An International Journal for All Aspects of Design, 16(2), 219-238.
Wooster, R. (2009). Creative inclusion in community theatre: a journey with Odyssey
Theatre. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 14(1), 79-90.
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Published
2021-03-06
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Cripistemologies of Disability Arts and Culture
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