Fia/Sophia Neises und Zwoisy Mears-Clarke
Online via Zoom: no registration required. The Zoom link will be shared here 24 hours before the event.
Fia/Sophia Neises and Zwoisy Mears-Clarke cordially invite you to a one-day online conference as part of the Community of Reception. For over two years, this community of blind, low vision and sighted artists and activists has been researching the art form of audio description. This conference manifests the wish to bring the political dimensions of audio description in the dance and performance field into the spotlight and discuss them with exciting guests.
The conference will take place via Zoom and will consist of two 2-hour panels, with a 1.5-hour lunch break. Each panel will begin with an introduction to Zoom’s access features (e.g. keyboard shortcuts). This short intro is then followed by a discussion among the panelists, a short break, and an open Q&A session.
The (community) organizers, Fia and Zwoisy, as well as almost all of the panelists, are marginalized and/or subject to multiple forms of discrimination. For this reason, it was important to the two community organizers to facilitate communication between communities that are often otherwise separated. Therefore, all panels will be held in spoken German and English as well as German Sign Language, as simultaneous interpretation in all three languages will be offered.
Accessibility
Panel 1 · 10:30 – 12:30 BLIND AND DEAF DRAMATURGY IN DANCE AND PERFORMANCE
Language: German spoken language & German Sign Language
Interpretation into English spoken language can be selected on Zoom if required
The panel invites participants to reflect on radical processes of rethinking and reinventing. Three established performing arts practitioners will share their experiences with artistic processes in which they have incorporated dramaturgy for blind and deaf audiences.
Both opportunities and challenges will be addressed. And in the spirit of sustainability, structural and institutional issues will also be discussed.
Panelists
-
Benjamin van Bebber, director of [in]operabilities and performer
-
Pia Jendreizik, actor at Leute wie Die and access dramaturge
-
Pernille Sonne, freelance dancer and access dramaturge
Moderator
Fia/Sophia Neises
Panel 2 · 14:00 – 16:00 ANTI-RACISM AND AUDIO DESCRIPTION IN DANCE AND PERFORMANCE
Language: English spoken language
Interpretation into German spoken language and German sign language can be selected on Zoom if required.
This panel will address the question of what role audio description can play in anti-racist practices. The panelists will discuss how audio descriptions can challenge power relations, avoid stereotypes, and make diverse perspectives tangible. The focus is not only on what is described and how, but equally on who is doing the describing, in order to question the political dimension of the so-called “objective” or “neutral” assignment. Together, the panelists will talk about how audio description consciously addresses these dimensions and can itself be both an artistic and an anti-racist practice based on solidarity.
Panelists
-
Monique Smith-Mcdowell, choreographer and dancer
-
Amy Zayed, cultural journalist, consultant on inclusion and audio description
-
Kayla Hamilton, choreographer, educator, and artistic director of Circle O—a cultural organization for Black disabled and other marginalized artists
Moderator
Zwoisy Mears-Clarke
This conference takes place as part of the Laboratory for Creative Audio Description, a community of reception that has been in existence since April 2023. The laboratory brings together blind and low vision people and blind and low vision dance professionals that are based in North Rhine-Westphalia at tanzhaus nrw who are interested in audio description and aesthetics of access. The aim is to further develop audio description as an artistic practice from the perspective of blind and low vision people – while at the same time creating space for critical feedback, exchange, and collaboration with blind, low vision, and sighted dance professionals.The Community of Reception is conceived and led by Fia/Sophia Neises and Zwoisy Mears-Clarke.
Fia/Sophia Neises is a white queer low vision performer, dramaturge, theater educator, and disability rights activist in the cultural sector. She works inclusively as a choreographer and dancer for plays and repeatedly as a dramaturge for visually impaired and blind audiences.
Zwoisy Mears-Clarke is a choreographer of the encounter. This applies to their approach both as a community organizer and as a Black queer choreographer. Since the beginning of Zwoisy's career, they have been developing dance pieces for audiences of low vision, blind, and sighted people using an intersectional approach.
Fia/Sophia Neises & Zwoisy Mears-Clarke have been working together since 2016. They actively share their expertise in dance with artists and persons from marginalized communities while engaging in research alongside them, focusing particularly on creating accessible and inclusive dance experiences.
Community Organization and Moderation: Fia/Sophia Neises, Zwoisy Mears-Clarke; Consultation on Digital Accessibility: Gina Jeske
Produced by Zwoisy Mears-Clarke, Fia/Sophia Neises, tanzhaus nrw and Kampnagel Hamburg. Funded by the Alliance of International Production Houses (Bündnis internationaler Produktionshäuser)
