Claire Cunningham , 4 Legs good REMIX

In this lecture demonstration, Claire Cunningham provides insights into her unmistakable movement style “Quanimacy”. She shows how the use, reutilisation, the exploration of and disassociation with her crutches, as well as the conscious departure from dance techniques that were developed for non-disabled bodies, have influenced her artistic practice. She speaks about how her focus on the relation with her crutches and her body has shifted to the question how her crutches connect her to the world. She describes how her work has been marked by her life experience with disability and how this affects how society thinks about knowledge, values, connection, and interdependence.

Claire Cunningham lives in Glasgow, Scotland. She is a performer and develops multi-disciplinary stage works. As one of the most renowned artists with disability in the United Kingdom, her work often deals with crip and disability experiences, practices of care as well as with societal notions of knowledge and value. In 2021, Claire Cunningham received the German Dance Award for “Exceptional Artistic Development in Dance”. She has been the Einstein professor for “Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts” at the university-spanning Zentrum Tanz (HZT) in Berlin since October of 2023. Her solo “Songs of the Wayfarer” premiered in November 2024. The production earned a nomination in the dance category at the 2025 UK Theatre Awards and continues to tour internationally.