Diverse-City

On Monday, October 22nd, I attended an issue of Live Magazine! - an ongoing multi-disciplinary series that features an evening of entertainment curated by different artists in the community. This particular issue was curated by Paul Power of Power Productions, and was titled 'Diverse-City' - celebrating diversity in our arts community. 

Paul David Power has spent the past 25 years working as a writer, actor, director and communications professional in various mediums including dramatic script for the stage. His most recent project, "Crippled" made its professional debut at the LSPU Hall this past February. Paul has worked with many national arts organizations including the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Arts Centre to examine and further the disability, Deaf and MAD arts sector. His company, Power Productions, is committed to creating and supporting diverse and accessible theatre projects, with a focus on the disability, Deaf and MAD arts sector.

What a stellar line-up of performers in one tiny show!

While most teenagers are into the Top 100 hits, 13 year old Brandon Bowen loves to jam out the traditional tunes on his accordion. Brandon has cerebral palsy but he doesn’t let his disability get in his way when it comes to his musical talent. He has been playing his accordion for 4 years and has played in many festivals including the NL Folk Festival, Eastport Accordion Festival, George Street Festival, Music and Friends Festival on Bell Island, the Janeway Telethon, O’Reilly’s Pub and he even had the opportunity to play with some popular Newfoundland bands such as Shanneyganock, Rum Ragged and the Masterless Men. Brandon has his own band – 'The Brandon Bowen Band' with his good buddies Russell Molloy and Dave Spurvey. They are always helping out with volunteering to play at events and senior homes. Brandon has also recently branched off into the acting industry, playing the role of Connor in the CBC show, Little Dog. He is also starring in the current NAPE commercial. Keep your eye out for it!

Kyle Saunders is a stand up comedian, improviser and actor who is currently studying Psychology at Memorial University. He has been volunteering and advocating for mental health since receiving his diagnoses of bi-polar disorder at the age of 14. He says that he has been on a "wild hilarious ride of manic mental mischief" that makes for an interesting life which wouldn't be possible without the incredible support and patience of his family and friends throughout the years. Kyle says that he enjoys including bits about his struggles with mental health into his comedy acts because it adds a voice and an opportunity for people to talk to him about their own mental health challenges. He is very open about his journey and says that while the jokes can be a coping mechanism, it is also a way to show people that he is capable of performing through the challenges and even making light of some of the hardships he has faced. You can see Kyle's story documented in this video for the Janeway HERE!

Anne Malone is a self-described Guide dog wrangler, bias-defiant writer, speaker, and creator who envisions and advocates freedom from disability for people who are blind or visually impaired. Her writing plumbs the depths of history, the classical arts, and popular culture to reveal the origins of deeply buried cultural beliefs about the abilities and characteristics of people who are blind, and the catastrophic consequences these misbeliefs have on blind and visually impaired people around the world. Anne opened her talk by explaining that she is on the "happy experience of vision loss" or as she likes to call it, "eyesight loss", because as she says, "vision is something that's inside, and there's nothing wrong with my vision!" I couldn't agree more, and I thoroughly enjoyed Anne's talk!

Diana Daly is a multi-instrumentalist, performer, storyteller and songwriter. She treated us to a couple of beautiful songs that she wrote for her own stage show, "If A Place Could Be Made", that she performs with her dear friends, Louise Moyes and Anne Troake as part of the Daly Family Collective. "If A Place Could Be Made" tells the story of Diana's own extraordinary family. Her great-grandparents had twelve children, six of whom were exceptionally tall and six had skeletal dysplasia, or what is currently known as persons of short stature, and had various disabilities. The production focuses on inclusion through songwriting, contemporary dance, and storytelling. It was wonderful to hear Diana describe her remarkable family, and talk about how much effort went into telling their story without exploiting their obvious physical differences. I haven't yet had the opportunity to see her show, but I am really looking forward to it!

To close the show, Brandon performed a set with Diana and in true Newfoundland style, they traded songs and tunes in what felt like a makeshift jam session that you just didn't want to end. What talent we have right here in our community, and such diversity among our performers!

Great art depends on great diversity, and thankfully, our ideas about what diversity means have expanded to include artists across the spectrum of class, sexuality, disability, gender and race backgrounds. Power Productions has been working to make theatre arts in Newfoundland and Labrador more inclusive and accessible, and is committed to removing barriers that prevent participation in the audience, backstage, and on the stage itself. This issue of Live Magazine! was the perfect showcase of diversity in the arts community, and a wonderful way to integrate the mainstream community into the world that we live in, which is made up of individuals with all sorts of unique abilities.

Reframing disABILITY

When it comes to inclusion, we try to cover all the bases as a community. There are so many areas and perspectives that need attention, and mountains are not going to move overnight, but I am excited to say that some wonderful things are happening in our province with regards to accessibility in the arts. It is encouraging to know that people (like my dear friend, Paul Power) are committed to creating diverse and accessible projects, not as some charity outreach mission, but as responsible citizens who are committed to representing the real world - a world that includes persons with disabilities.

This afternoon, I attended a panel discussion titled 'Reframing disABILTY: The Perspective From Artists in Performing Arts'.

The panel included three professional performing artists all living with a disability - Luca 'Lazylegs' Patuelli, Erin Ball, and Paul Power, and was moderated by Emily Christy, of the Coalition of Persons with Disabilities - NL.

The artists each described their own experiences and various triumphs overcoming adversity in their respective roles. Their stories are both inspiring and motivating, and resulted in an important conversation around inclusivity, accessibility, and overcoming extraordinary challenges.

Paul Power has spent the last 25 years working as a writer, actor and director. Born with a disability requiring the use of crutches and leg braces for mobility, Paul has a long history in raising awareness and understanding about disability issues through his work as a playwright, columnist, director, actor and community leader. Paul is one of 13 deaf, disabled and MAD art leaders from across the country who participated in the National Arts Centre 2016-2017 cycle. The cycle was a year long process that explored diversity in our national theater scene and how artists can work to expand and strengthen disability arts in Canada. Paul is committed to applying what he's learned during this process to projects and initiatives in his own community as well as other areas of Atlantic Canada. Paul currently has his own production company, Power Productions, based in St. John's which produces and advocates for theatre projects focused on disability, deaf and MAD arts.

Paul talked about his experience as a "disabled actor" and auditioning for roles unrelated to his disability. He spoke about how he always felt like the only one with a disability in the theatre world here in Newfoundland, and how that is what led him to create plays that represented persons with disabilities on the stage. Paul said, "I think another factor of inclusion is doing by seeing, and from a theatre perspective, challenging directors and casting agents to broaden their horizon in their casting. It's not good enough just to say 'We welcome everybody'. What I've learned through our activities is that to make change you really have to go in there and pull people out to insight change because it's not going to happen on its own."

Erin Ball is a circus artist from Kingston, Ontario. Her disciplines include aerial silks and trapeze, both solo and duo, wheelchair acrobatics and aerial wheelchair, flexibility and hooping. Erin is also experienced with aerial hoop, partner acrobatics and hand-balancing. She took a year off in March 2014 due to a life changing event that resulted in the loss of her lower legs. She has since returned to her passion of training, coaching and performing, and loves adapting and creating new and different ways of executing her skills. Erin loves to move and to connect with others through movement and play, and she has worked with many diverse groups of people. She developed a workshop and manual in 2017 called 'Flying Footless' - a course for aerial coaches working with amputees. She recently hosted the first amputee circus camp week with Kingston Circus Arts. Erin is involved in many artistic projects, including her company, LEGacy Circus, and various aerial and ground works and creative audio description projects to make circus more accessible for the blind and partially-sighted community.

Erin said that five years ago, she would never have imagined where she is today. "It has been the richest, most fulfilling years of my life.. and the hardest. I have learned so much and continue to every day. Today, I am proud to call myself a member of disabled community, and I hope that I can continue to represent on the circus stage, and get as many others to join me as possible!"

Watch Erin's extraordinary story of survival and how she got back in the ring after losing her lower legs HERE.

Luca 'Lazylegz' Patuelli has lived by the "No Excuses, No Limits" motto his whole life. Born with a neuromuscular disorder affecting the bones and joints of the body, he has undergone many surgeries to support his legs, hips, spine and shoulders.

Luca has been dancing since he was 15 years old. He developed a unique dance style, taking advantage of his upper body strength. By using his crutches as extensions of his arms, Bboy Lazylegz was born! Combining his passion for dance with his knowledge of engaging the masses, he has become a strong advocate for inclusion and integration as he aims to bring people of all abilities together through the power of dance.

Luca had me in tears when he talked about working with children who have more severe disabilities. He stressed the importance of observation, stating that when working with any type of ability, you have to be able to observe what kind of movement is coming out of the person. For example, a person with cerebral palsy may have very limited movement such as the opening and closing of a hand. "Someone might look at that and think, how are we going to integrate them, but this movement of the hand can be interpreted as a beautiful movement within dance. It is the slightest movements that make the greatest difference in a performance."

To hear Luca talk about the amount of passion and energy that can be felt within those slight movements, hit me right in the heart. Thinking of my own child, who has very limited mobility and very few intentional movements, knowing that there is someone like Luca who recognizes that his movements can be purposeful and beautiful.. I was a mess. Luca, you get it, and I am so happy that you are sharing your insight with the world.

Luca is taking his "No Excuses, No Limits" tour across Newfoundland, bringing his inspiring message of inclusion, perseverance, personal empowerment and overcoming adversity to audiences young and old from all walks of life. He has just visited four locations in the province, starting on the West coast and working his way East, with performances in Corner Brook, Stephenville, Grand Falls-Windsor, and Gander. He is now in St. John's and will perform at City Hall on October 3rd and at Easter Seals House on October 6th. Be sure to get tickets! You don't want to miss it!

Crippled

As a parent of a child with a physical disability and a strong disability advocate, I am continually searching for new initiatives that are pushing to make a difference and to propel the discussion of inclusion in our community. I was thrilled to be able to attend the stage reading and discussion of "Crippled", a play in development by playwright Paul David Power.

Crippled is a product of Paul's own experience living with a physical disability since birth. As a member of the arts community for many years, Paul also strives to further the representation of deaf and disabled artists in the Atlantic Region.

"Crippled is written by and about a person living with a physical disability. It's a new work taking place in the Atlantic Region which assists in putting diversity in our arts community in the spotlight in our region. It is Paul's hope that Crippled will not only entertain, but also inspire discussion and action to expand the diversity of our theatre scene for artists living with a disability."

Paul was joined on stage by actors Pat Dempsey, Gregory Clayton King, Kyle McDavid, and Janet O'Reilly. They delivered a heart-wrenching performance that brought the script to life in such a way that made the audience feel with their whole hearts what the character, Tony, was living.

The plot followed the main character, Tony, read by Paul, as he reflected on a lifetime of ridicule and humiliation because of his disability. Through a series of flashbacks, we see how Tony was rejected, made fun of, and assumed to be less capable because he wore leg braces and used crutches for mobility. He is short in stature – a result of skeletal dysplasia (under development of limbs – in this case, the legs). Tony has spent his whole life feeling “different” and while he has always kept a positive attitude, on this night he seemed to have reached his limit. He was tired of having to be "accepted", and tired of having to constantly fight for an identity beyond a physicality that set him apart.

My heart was left in a puddle on the floor of the theatre that night, when Paul / Tony described the scene in which his mother, having just given birth to him, was visited by a Nun in her hospital room:

"Well, my dear, we must not question God's reasoning for things like this. We must just accept them and believe that God has a plan. You have two other beautiful children. Enjoy and treasure them. Pray that God takes this baby. He's very weak. He may not last through the night, and my dear, maybe that's a blessing. He's never going to have any kind of life. Is that what you want for him? He won't walk or talk. You have to pray for peace for him. Pray for peace and accept that it is God's will."

Tony overheard his mother telling the story of his birth, and was left to wonder:

"When we hear that someone has a baby or is expecting, it's always the image of cute little babies and celebrating. I can't help but think my birth was a disappointment. I mean everybody hopes for a healthy little baby. Everybody celebrates when the baby is healthy. But when that baby isn't, what then? I mean, does the celebrating go away? Is it less of a joyous occasion? Is that baby doomed to a world of lower expectations from the very start? A world that must 'accept' them?"

I cried so hard. I was that mother. That was my baby.

After a very emotional performance, the group took a short break to allow everyone to digest and recompose before continuing with the evening's schedule.

The stage reading was followed by a panel discussion that included Paul Power with dramaturge Robert Chafe, Danielle Irvine, Leah Lewis, and moderator, Maggie Gillis from CBC. The result was a very interesting and informed discussion of disability in the arts and how to expand the diversity in our local arts community.

It is important when talking about inclusion and accessibility to recognize that people with disabilities aren't just spectators - they are artists and creators and valuable contributors. Typically, when theatres and venues think about including people with disabilities, they think about things like where the wheelchairs will be located in the audience, and how a ramp will improve the entrance way. While, yes, improving accessibility is a wonderful thing, it is also important to talk about how we can include people with disabilities as producers of art - as performers, actors, musicians, etc.

What I observed this night was a microcosm of what I want to see more of in the real world - inclusion at its best - people of all abilities and from different backgrounds working together and learning from each other.

There is no need to hide our differences. The fact is that my son might not be an actor or performer (or a doctor or lawyer), and that's ok. He is incredible in other ways, and I am comforted by the fact that the world of opportunities for people with disabilities continues to expand because people like Paul Power explore, develop, and celebrate our differences and offer its lessons to the world.

Thank you, Paul, for your incredible talent and your beautiful insight. It was a pleasure to witness and to be a part of. I wish you great success with your work, and I look forward to seeing the final play when it is performed here in St. John's. I will be the first in line for tickets, and I will recommend it to anyone and everyone with a beating heart inside their chest.

For more information about the project, visit http://www.paulpower.ca/crippled.html