Actors, dancers and musicians prove disability is no obstacle
261 views · Published 1 December 2018 · 5:51 · Indexed 16 October 2026
Channel: AP Archive · 2018 · News & Politics
(23 Nov 2018) LEADIN: Hundreds of disabled and able bodied musicians, dancers and actors from different countries are performing in Russia to show there should be no barriers to talent. They're taking part in the Festival of Inclusion where the motto is: "Human Dignity in Art" STORYLINE: There are 380 artists here from all over Russia and ten other countries. They're demonstrating their skills across all genres including, dance, music, theatre and other visual arts. One of the main criteria by which teams are evaluated here, is inclusivity. The aim is to demonstrate that all people with and without disabilities can interact in one team and produce good entertainment. Theatre's the most popular. Here a Theatre Masterclass is being held were actors give their interpretation of Shakespeare's King Lear. The school in Yekaterinburg has been in going for over a year, and it stages performances with people who are blind, deaf or have mental health issues. Actor Igor Kropotov is convinced that audiences will appreciate it's not physical differences that matter, but the performance they deliver as artists. "We shouldn't emphasize our individuality, we must show what we can do. Sometimes even the able bodied, as we call people without disabilities, we are not inferior to each other. They look at us and say, we aren't able to create and do what you do," he says. Classes which aim to promote artistic interaction between people with disabilities and other people is important to the school's managers. Most important for Art Director Natalya Garanina is that the performance attracts the attention of mixed audience. "This is for everyone. There shouldn't be only people with disabilities sitting in the audience. There are people with disabilities on the stage and there are people (with disabilities) in the audience, so why (do we do this)? Art must be art. It's art because it is for everyone, and here I will repeat once more, it does not matter that they have specific (disabilities), or what specifics (disabilities they have), but what is important is what they show." Experts came here from all over Russia, Germany, Norway, Armenia to conduct more than twenty masterclasses, giving the participants the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and learn something new, perhaps even try out different forms of art. Andrey Afonin is the Art Director for Integrated Theatre 'Krug II delivered a masterclass in 'How to Become an Actor'. Afonin says in an art setting it's not difficult to build up a team from lots of different people who meet for the first time. He explains: "We began to trust each other, and we did not want to part, we wanted to continue on and on. This is not a normal situation, where else in any another place would we see that in two hours so many different people suddenly join up. Blind, mentally ill, autistic, without disabilities, elderly, young, where else (but in theatre)?" He adds:"There is always such a situation when the result of the activity of a special needs person is not accepted by society as a valuable one. When we get into the situation of art, first of all, art is absolutely without boundaries, and creativity is generally inherent in every person, no matter what his, or her physical abilities are. And in this field of art, we are all equal." Music is another uniting genre of the festival. The participants of the music masterclasses learn to feel the rhythm, play musical instruments, to improvise, and sing in Spanish. They also learn new teaching methods for their future work in inclusive schools and studios in their hometowns. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/a3a8a88978a607d4ae43f578164a471a
