1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,139 ♪ Opening theme music ♪ 2 00:00:13,646 --> 00:00:17,884 Hello, and welcome to this episode of ArtsAbly in Conversation. 3 00:00:17,917 --> 00:00:20,120 My name is Diane Kolin. 4 00:00:20,220 --> 00:00:25,525 This series presents artists, academics, and project leaders who dedicate their 5 00:00:25,558 --> 00:00:31,464 time and energy to a better accessibility for people with disabilities in the arts. 6 00:00:31,498 --> 00:00:37,170 You can find more of these conversations on our website, artsably.com, 7 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:42,409 which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com. 8 00:00:43,676 --> 00:00:48,815 ♪ Theme music ♪ 9 00:00:55,889 --> 00:00:58,758 Today, ArtsAbly is in conversation with 10 00:00:58,792 --> 00:01:01,628 Traci Foster, a Canadian-based artist 11 00:01:01,661 --> 00:01:05,498 and educator living in Regina in Canada. 12 00:01:05,532 --> 00:01:09,569 You can find the resources mentioned by Traci Foster during this episode 13 00:01:09,569 --> 00:01:13,706 on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section. 14 00:01:13,706 --> 00:01:21,781 ♪ Guitar playing - Introduction for the Listen to Dis' video ♪ 15 00:01:27,153 --> 00:01:29,589 Listen to Dis. 16 00:01:29,622 --> 00:01:36,229 Bring your joy, bring your shit, bring yourself. 17 00:01:36,696 --> 00:01:39,265 The beautiful thing about Listen to Dis is that 18 00:01:39,265 --> 00:01:42,702 everyone comes from a different place. 19 00:01:42,735 --> 00:01:48,108 We're not like, this isn't just a spinal cord injury acting group. 20 00:01:48,108 --> 00:01:52,946 It's people with autism, people with spina bifida, anything. 21 00:01:52,979 --> 00:01:56,716 And you don't even really need to identify with disability. 22 00:01:56,749 --> 00:02:01,788 If you want to practice art and make art with us, you're welcome. 23 00:02:01,788 --> 00:02:08,695 But it's a place where you can go and be accepted no matter your difference. 24 00:02:08,728 --> 00:02:16,369 When I think of LTD and the folks within the organization, I think of family. 25 00:02:16,402 --> 00:02:17,637 We're close. 26 00:02:17,637 --> 00:02:21,508 Those of us that have been around for a while. 27 00:02:21,541 --> 00:02:24,844 We're fairly, I think, open 28 00:02:24,878 --> 00:02:28,715 to new family members because people 29 00:02:28,748 --> 00:02:33,853 identify through that word quite consistently and pretty quickly. 30 00:02:33,887 --> 00:02:38,191 I first became aware of Listen to Dis Community Arts Organization 31 00:02:38,191 --> 00:02:39,993 in my work at the Artesian. 32 00:02:39,993 --> 00:02:44,130 It's a foundational part of the programming at the Artesian. 33 00:02:44,163 --> 00:02:51,337 Listen to Dis and the folks involved with it make up something that is very large. 34 00:02:51,371 --> 00:02:54,774 I'd love to say that it's about defiance or it's about great art 35 00:02:54,774 --> 00:02:59,412 or it's about therapy or it's about community, but all those things together 36 00:02:59,445 --> 00:03:01,748 don't come close, it seems. 37 00:03:01,781 --> 00:03:05,351 Listen to Dis is a community of artists that give people 38 00:03:05,385 --> 00:03:10,189 the opportunity to experience crip culture through their art. 39 00:03:10,223 --> 00:03:15,361 The ability to pull stories and to give space to those and 40 00:03:15,395 --> 00:03:21,467 to develop those in a way that pulls out things for me that I would not 41 00:03:21,501 --> 00:03:23,970 get the chance to say in this way. 42 00:03:24,003 --> 00:03:25,638 I would not be where I am. 43 00:03:25,672 --> 00:03:28,508 I would not be studying for a Master's of Fine Arts. 44 00:03:28,541 --> 00:03:31,177 I don't actually know what I'd be doing. 45 00:03:31,211 --> 00:03:34,581 I feel like working with Listen to Dis 46 00:03:34,614 --> 00:03:38,651 over the years has just molded me and 47 00:03:38,685 --> 00:03:43,890 helped me grow into even being able to say, 48 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:48,394 yes, I'm a theater artist, period. 49 00:03:48,561 --> 00:03:52,465 ♪ Guitar playing and voice singing ♪ I'm stronger every day. 50 00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:56,736 I've got my faith. 51 00:03:56,769 --> 00:03:59,539 I've got no time to waste 52 00:03:59,572 --> 00:04:04,043 to get to where I need to be. 53 00:04:04,077 --> 00:04:07,880 I got my back to the wall. 54 00:04:07,914 --> 00:04:10,817 I got nowhere to fall. 55 00:04:10,817 --> 00:04:13,519 I'm standing up tall. 56 00:04:13,519 --> 00:04:17,090 Watch me walk across that river. 57 00:04:17,090 --> 00:04:21,928 Look the devil in the eye. 58 00:04:23,563 --> 00:04:28,001 End of the excerpt. 59 00:04:29,302 --> 00:04:32,905 Welcome to this new episode of ArtsAbly in Conversation. 60 00:04:32,939 --> 00:04:37,210 Today, I am with Traci Foster, who is a Canadian-based artist 61 00:04:37,243 --> 00:04:42,415 and educator living in Regina in Canada. Welcome, Traci. 62 00:04:42,448 --> 00:04:44,717 Thank you so much, Diane. 63 00:04:44,717 --> 00:04:46,753 My pleasure to be here. 64 00:04:46,753 --> 00:04:53,226 Shared pleasure because we're going to have to talk about a very vast 65 00:04:53,259 --> 00:04:55,728 work that you're doing. 66 00:04:55,762 --> 00:05:00,166 I love that you're working with so many 67 00:05:00,199 --> 00:05:03,936 intersectionalities and domains in music, 68 00:05:03,936 --> 00:05:06,939 but in arts in general and research. 69 00:05:06,973 --> 00:05:09,208 We will talk about that. 70 00:05:09,242 --> 00:05:16,382 But I wanted to first welcome you and ask you if you could introduce yourself, 71 00:05:16,416 --> 00:05:21,721 tell us a little bit your background and what led you to the arts and music 72 00:05:21,754 --> 00:05:23,690 and singing, voice, 73 00:05:24,090 --> 00:05:31,931 Tell us a little bit about you, about how all this arts attraction got started. 74 00:05:31,931 --> 00:05:38,471 Well, I guess, I mean, I usually now preference by saying, 75 00:05:38,471 --> 00:05:41,741 I started to dance at three, 76 00:05:41,741 --> 00:05:46,312 meaning I started to be on stage at three with 77 00:05:46,312 --> 00:05:51,184 tap and ballet and Ukrainian dancing. 78 00:05:51,217 --> 00:05:54,320 And then I added baton and other things 79 00:05:54,353 --> 00:05:58,524 and did that into mid-adolescence. 80 00:05:58,524 --> 00:06:01,828 So I had a very strong relationship with 81 00:06:01,861 --> 00:06:06,032 performance and music when I was young, 82 00:06:06,032 --> 00:06:08,101 and I think partially because I 83 00:06:08,134 --> 00:06:14,941 was very awkward in my social skills and 84 00:06:14,974 --> 00:06:17,744 in conversation, I was very, very shy. 85 00:06:17,777 --> 00:06:22,648 So I used the arts as as a way in which to express and communicate. 86 00:06:22,648 --> 00:06:25,451 And then swayed away from that a little bit. 87 00:06:25,485 --> 00:06:26,853 I did hair. 88 00:06:26,886 --> 00:06:31,858 I studied in such, and I did hair, competed and did sculptural 89 00:06:31,891 --> 00:06:33,793 hair competitions and stuff like that. 90 00:06:33,826 --> 00:06:39,799 And then I found my way towards performance as a mature student. 91 00:06:39,832 --> 00:06:45,271 So I started studying at the University of Regina, and I was studying 92 00:06:45,304 --> 00:06:49,041 theater, even though theater wasn't actually a main interest. 93 00:06:49,075 --> 00:06:55,581 I loved the work that actors did to prepare themselves to work. 94 00:06:55,615 --> 00:07:00,119 So I began to study theater, and I 95 00:07:00,153 --> 00:07:03,589 had a very difficult time keeping up and, 96 00:07:03,623 --> 00:07:07,794 I don't know if fitting in is the proper term, but I didn't feel like I belonged 97 00:07:07,827 --> 00:07:11,964 there a lot, and that was difficult. 98 00:07:11,964 --> 00:07:18,371 And somewhere early into the study, about halfway through, I met an artist 99 00:07:18,371 --> 00:07:23,442 who invited the possibility, I'll be very careful to say, the possibility 100 00:07:23,476 --> 00:07:29,248 of me leaving school and pursuing my passions outside of the institute. 101 00:07:29,248 --> 00:07:33,920 And that, in fact, is what I did. 102 00:07:33,953 --> 00:07:39,158 So I began to do self-study in places like 103 00:07:39,192 --> 00:07:42,361 Toronto, and Vancouver, and LA, and such, 104 00:07:42,395 --> 00:07:49,302 and got really interested in the art 105 00:07:49,335 --> 00:07:54,540 rooms, the process rooms I was finding. 106 00:07:54,574 --> 00:08:00,046 And at that time, I wouldn't have used the word access, but in many ways, access 107 00:08:00,079 --> 00:08:04,917 was being provided to accommodate me 108 00:08:04,917 --> 00:08:07,820 in ways that just really what it translated 109 00:08:07,854 --> 00:08:09,722 into is I felt like I belonged. 110 00:08:09,755 --> 00:08:13,826 I didn't feel like I wasn't part of what was happening or couldn't 111 00:08:13,860 --> 00:08:15,127 keep up with what was happening. 112 00:08:15,161 --> 00:08:19,432 So I just started to do what I just now summarize as my life learning 113 00:08:19,432 --> 00:08:22,034 because it just continues to go. 114 00:08:22,068 --> 00:08:31,544 And in 2006, one of my friends/teachers 115 00:08:31,577 --> 00:08:35,781 from Toronto was working on a project 116 00:08:35,815 --> 00:08:39,919 with a student of hers named Kazumi, and 117 00:08:39,952 --> 00:08:44,357 they created a show called The CP Salon. 118 00:08:44,390 --> 00:08:49,962 And so Fides Krucker is her name, and she and Kazumi decided they 119 00:08:49,996 --> 00:08:54,400 would tour that show in Western Canada. 120 00:08:54,433 --> 00:09:01,841 So I produced that show, co-produced that show with an organization here in Regina, 121 00:09:01,874 --> 00:09:06,913 and we held a four-day workshop with Fides, Kazumi and myself leading. 122 00:09:06,946 --> 00:09:10,950 And just by the sheer number, the sheer interest, the dedication, 123 00:09:10,983 --> 00:09:12,752 the number of people who attended for those four days, 124 00:09:12,752 --> 00:09:16,289 which was the number was 24, we were able to see, 125 00:09:16,322 --> 00:09:20,359 and so was another organization that works with our social change, 126 00:09:20,393 --> 00:09:25,464 that there was a void in our sector around 127 00:09:25,498 --> 00:09:28,234 providing opportunity for disabled people. 128 00:09:28,267 --> 00:09:34,206 So I was hired to start doing workshops, eventually became an artist in residence 129 00:09:34,206 --> 00:09:38,477 for this organization called Common Weal Community Arts Organization. 130 00:09:38,511 --> 00:09:46,218 And I worked really closely with them and South Saskatchewan Independent Living Centre 131 00:09:46,218 --> 00:09:52,091 as an artist in residence to start doing individual work with disabled people 132 00:09:52,124 --> 00:09:57,363 interested in the arts and develop group work and workshops, as well as 133 00:09:57,363 --> 00:10:00,633 facilitate other artists to do the same. 134 00:10:00,666 --> 00:10:04,170 And that was very, very successful. 135 00:10:04,170 --> 00:10:08,407 And we started making an impact in our little city of Regina by showing up 136 00:10:08,441 --> 00:10:15,514 and having people who people were not used to seeing on stage, on stage. 137 00:10:15,548 --> 00:10:20,953 And then that culminated into a group being formed 138 00:10:20,953 --> 00:10:23,723 called Listen to This Voice, and eventually 139 00:10:23,756 --> 00:10:30,629 a nonprofit being founded by me in 2014. 140 00:10:31,330 --> 00:10:34,166 And then things changed quite a lot. It was very - 141 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:37,837 It was very creative community... 142 00:10:37,837 --> 00:10:43,743 Creative community art-driven through that period, although 143 00:10:43,776 --> 00:10:48,381 myself and a few others were working as emerging professional artists. 144 00:10:48,414 --> 00:10:52,485 In 2014, I was invited into the University of Regina. 145 00:10:52,518 --> 00:10:57,390 There had been an unfortunate situation 146 00:10:57,390 --> 00:11:01,060 with a student who was a quadriplegic 147 00:11:01,093 --> 00:11:05,898 and studying theater, and she was... 148 00:11:05,898 --> 00:11:08,834 There were so many barriers being put up for her to 149 00:11:08,868 --> 00:11:12,271 exist inside of the program. 150 00:11:12,304 --> 00:11:19,045 And eventually, she was asked to consider finding another interest 151 00:11:19,045 --> 00:11:22,214 so that she would be able to succeed in the words of the professor. 152 00:11:22,248 --> 00:11:28,454 So I was contacted to come in, and I guess it was a cleanup situation, 153 00:11:28,487 --> 00:11:30,222 but I wouldn't have seen it as that then. 154 00:11:30,256 --> 00:11:32,291 I didn't know overtly. 155 00:11:32,324 --> 00:11:38,164 So I was called in, and I co-taught a class called Devising Inclusive Theater. 156 00:11:38,197 --> 00:11:44,737 And we had that woman and four other people who use wheelchairs that are 157 00:11:44,770 --> 00:11:52,078 interested in performance, and one person that lived with invisible disability. 158 00:11:52,111 --> 00:11:57,650 And we worked through this class to understand disability art 159 00:11:57,683 --> 00:12:02,555 and culture through conversation and watching videos and learning together. 160 00:12:02,588 --> 00:12:07,960 And then I used the somatic processes that I use as an artist and as a 161 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:12,031 trauma-informed therapist to work, 162 00:12:12,064 --> 00:12:16,569 not as therapy, but work with an eye 163 00:12:16,602 --> 00:12:22,608 on belonging, feelings being safe enough to belong and developing content. 164 00:12:22,608 --> 00:12:27,379 And we ended up putting together a devise, original devised show that 165 00:12:27,413 --> 00:12:32,651 was presented at the end of the term. 166 00:12:32,651 --> 00:12:35,821 And then there was a hundred and some people that took it in 167 00:12:35,821 --> 00:12:36,856 and people went wild. 168 00:12:36,889 --> 00:12:41,393 They never seen four people that used wheelchairs on the stage, 169 00:12:41,427 --> 00:12:43,929 five, sorry, at the same time. 170 00:12:43,929 --> 00:12:45,865 So people were a bit flabbergasted. 171 00:12:45,865 --> 00:12:49,702 Plus, the content was very rich and beautiful, and the performers 172 00:12:49,735 --> 00:12:50,803 were rich and beautiful. 173 00:12:50,836 --> 00:12:55,274 So it drew a lot of attention, and we were invited right then 174 00:12:55,307 --> 00:12:58,444 after the show to perform at a... 175 00:12:58,444 --> 00:13:00,946 What was it? 176 00:13:00,980 --> 00:13:03,549 Cathedral Village Arts Festival at a community arts festival 177 00:13:03,582 --> 00:13:07,453 that happens yearly, and we agreed, and the rest is history. 178 00:13:07,486 --> 00:13:11,624 We had a theater company, Boom, who started to show that show 179 00:13:11,657 --> 00:13:17,530 around the city and the main theaters, and eventually, toured the province. 180 00:13:17,530 --> 00:13:21,767 And then we created a second show show, which got halted literally the day 181 00:13:21,801 --> 00:13:24,503 that COVID shut the world down. 182 00:13:24,537 --> 00:13:29,508 We were literally packed, trailers packed to leave after six weeks of rehearsal 183 00:13:29,542 --> 00:13:31,343 and two years of development. 184 00:13:31,377 --> 00:13:36,182 So us and many were interrupted in a pretty real way. 185 00:13:36,215 --> 00:13:38,851 And in that show, we had live music. 186 00:13:38,851 --> 00:13:41,787 So that was new from the first show. 187 00:13:41,821 --> 00:13:45,658 And then we pivoted quite beautifully through COVID and did all kinds 188 00:13:45,691 --> 00:13:48,794 of things online and created radio shows and did things. 189 00:13:48,827 --> 00:13:53,432 And then we started coming back into in-person programming, things 190 00:13:53,432 --> 00:13:57,703 had changed for a few of the members who were in the original theater company. 191 00:13:57,736 --> 00:14:01,740 Two had moved, three had moved in total. 192 00:14:01,774 --> 00:14:05,611 And so we started to play with the music. 193 00:14:05,611 --> 00:14:11,450 And long story short, we created and founded a music ensemble 194 00:14:11,450 --> 00:14:19,391 who also were carrying some of the originally written monologs and stories 195 00:14:19,425 --> 00:14:21,627 within the music set. 196 00:14:21,660 --> 00:14:26,899 And we have toured around Saskatchewan for two and a half years now seeing 197 00:14:26,932 --> 00:14:33,572 thousands of people and introducing, continuing to introduce people, really, 198 00:14:33,606 --> 00:14:38,244 truly introduce people to the reality that 199 00:14:38,277 --> 00:14:42,548 people that are disabled can, and arguably 200 00:14:42,548 --> 00:14:46,185 should be represented or be seen on stage. 201 00:14:46,218 --> 00:14:49,822 So, yeah, it's been a very wild 202 00:14:49,855 --> 00:14:57,029 18 years, and then a really important 203 00:14:57,296 --> 00:15:03,669 time to be present in this province who, at the beginning, when I began to really 204 00:15:03,702 --> 00:15:07,039 be a little more politicized about it, a little louder and competent, I guess, 205 00:15:07,072 --> 00:15:15,347 and louder about things we understood we were in a province where 206 00:15:16,148 --> 00:15:22,655 there was no understanding at all of disability culture and belief. 207 00:15:22,688 --> 00:15:29,361 As a matter of fact, there was a pushback on whether it was legitimate. 208 00:15:29,728 --> 00:15:34,500 It's been a big journey for all of us. 209 00:15:34,533 --> 00:15:38,070 So there is a community part and a professional part, right? 210 00:15:38,070 --> 00:15:39,405 Yes. 211 00:15:40,306 --> 00:15:46,712 The professional part, is it part of the founding members or the initial 212 00:15:46,712 --> 00:15:49,982 members, or is it moving a lot? Yeah, both. 213 00:15:50,015 --> 00:15:50,149 Yeah. 214 00:15:50,149 --> 00:15:54,186 So many of the founding members, thank you for using that term 215 00:15:54,186 --> 00:15:56,422 because that's why we're here. 216 00:15:56,455 --> 00:15:58,390 I shouldn't say many. 217 00:15:58,390 --> 00:16:02,194 Some of the founding members have continued to develop 218 00:16:02,227 --> 00:16:06,298 either as really committed creatives, 219 00:16:06,332 --> 00:16:11,270 artists that work more from a recreational 220 00:16:11,270 --> 00:16:17,976 perspective, but as importantly as other professional artists in their contribution 221 00:16:18,010 --> 00:16:22,614 to art. In that case, it's mostly in the city relative 222 00:16:22,648 --> 00:16:25,084 to challenges from touring and such. 223 00:16:25,117 --> 00:16:31,256 And then others have moved through to pursue studies, 224 00:16:31,290 --> 00:16:38,063 moving to actually feel confident enough to advocate for themselves as students, 225 00:16:38,097 --> 00:16:42,401 some in performance, some in other areas of interest, 226 00:16:42,434 --> 00:16:46,171 but still working through the arts. 227 00:16:46,171 --> 00:16:50,342 So yes, they really are interconnected. 228 00:16:50,342 --> 00:16:56,982 Now, I love the question because right now it's 10 years of nonprofit work. 229 00:16:57,015 --> 00:17:03,055 So we are in a year of revisioning for ourselves and looking at what we feel 230 00:17:03,088 --> 00:17:07,760 from the inside of our experience as a disability-led, a disabled-led 231 00:17:07,793 --> 00:17:10,195 disability arts organization. 232 00:17:10,229 --> 00:17:16,402 How can we best work or serve our community? 233 00:17:16,435 --> 00:17:20,739 Right now, we're at a really - It's a challenging stage, actually, 234 00:17:20,773 --> 00:17:26,612 of looking at what's really missing now is 235 00:17:26,979 --> 00:17:31,116 equitable development of professional 236 00:17:31,150 --> 00:17:36,955 artists that live with disability, representing of professional 237 00:17:36,989 --> 00:17:43,061 disability artist's work, both in province and nationally and 238 00:17:43,095 --> 00:17:47,966 internationally, and of course, the ongoing art service aspect 239 00:17:47,966 --> 00:17:51,970 from a disability led perspective. 240 00:17:52,004 --> 00:17:55,774 So we are considering... 241 00:17:56,575 --> 00:18:03,082 Well, we're considering looking for organizations who are appropriately 242 00:18:03,115 --> 00:18:08,787 funded to mentor so that they can continue the really rich and vital 243 00:18:08,821 --> 00:18:11,390 community work we have been doing 244 00:18:11,423 --> 00:18:17,863 while we start to develop these other things for the purpose of, 245 00:18:17,896 --> 00:18:24,169 again, continuing the growth of representation of disability art 246 00:18:24,203 --> 00:18:29,174 and culture in Saskatchewan, which we're known still as the flyover, 247 00:18:29,208 --> 00:18:32,444 well, us in Manitoba, the flyover provinces in Canada, 248 00:18:32,478 --> 00:18:35,447 where disability culture is concern. 249 00:18:35,447 --> 00:18:39,451 We want to work hard to make sure that 250 00:18:39,451 --> 00:18:44,022 that dissolves as a way to be understood. 251 00:18:44,056 --> 00:18:50,195 As someone who's a managing 252 00:18:50,229 --> 00:18:53,765 all the activities of this kind of organization, 253 00:18:53,799 --> 00:18:56,201 I know you have been working 254 00:18:56,235 --> 00:19:01,340 in voice, in mask, clown. 255 00:19:01,373 --> 00:19:05,444 I don't remember all the list of things you've done. 256 00:19:05,444 --> 00:19:12,251 But how did all that build so that you finally say, Okay, all that, 257 00:19:12,284 --> 00:19:17,289 I need to put it into an organization or into several activities because also 258 00:19:17,322 --> 00:19:22,294 you were doing a great work into voice too, if I remember well. 259 00:19:22,327 --> 00:19:23,128 Yeah. 260 00:19:23,128 --> 00:19:25,831 How did it build? 261 00:19:25,864 --> 00:19:30,002 I think, Diane, that there's two things that come to mind. 262 00:19:30,002 --> 00:19:33,906 I hope I'll get the word right, coddle, coddlewomple. 263 00:19:33,906 --> 00:19:37,676 I I found a new word that means moving 264 00:19:37,709 --> 00:19:40,512 towards an unknown destination 265 00:19:40,546 --> 00:19:43,515 with a purpose or something like that. 266 00:19:43,549 --> 00:19:45,450 That feels a little bit like... 267 00:19:45,484 --> 00:19:49,922 I truly felt like I found myself in a word that I found. 268 00:19:49,955 --> 00:19:53,258 And also, when I began to... 269 00:19:53,292 --> 00:19:59,665 I was privileged enough as a person to 270 00:19:59,698 --> 00:20:04,436 travel away and to places where I was finding 271 00:20:04,436 --> 00:20:06,305 at that time, I'll be really clear, 272 00:20:06,305 --> 00:20:11,210 I wasn't looking for places that would hold a disabled person because 273 00:20:11,210 --> 00:20:16,348 although I knew that I had different diagnosis, 274 00:20:16,348 --> 00:20:23,655 and I knew that I struggled with things in a very overt way that others didn't, 275 00:20:23,655 --> 00:20:26,658 like in school and in dance practices and stuff, 276 00:20:26,658 --> 00:20:32,497 I was not identifying as a disabled 277 00:20:32,531 --> 00:20:35,067 person, therefore a disabled artist. 278 00:20:35,100 --> 00:20:37,269 So I was finding my way into places 279 00:20:37,302 --> 00:20:44,543 that felt like, oh, they felt safe, and 280 00:20:44,576 --> 00:20:48,447 they would acclimate, they would work to regulate my nervous system 281 00:20:48,447 --> 00:20:52,250 so it wasn't I'm anxious that I couldn't participate or take things in. 282 00:20:52,250 --> 00:20:54,686 So I was doing just this rich learning. 283 00:20:54,686 --> 00:20:59,524 And then they intersected with the people that I was engaged with in Regina. 284 00:20:59,558 --> 00:21:02,661 I would think, well, all the students I know who I was much older 285 00:21:02,694 --> 00:21:08,934 with because I came in at 28, they were always just freaking out 286 00:21:08,967 --> 00:21:11,837 and expected to learn and perform. 287 00:21:11,870 --> 00:21:15,841 And so I would bring this information back, and in a very naive way, 288 00:21:15,874 --> 00:21:19,978 in retrospect, quite honestly, I would offer to the of my ability, 289 00:21:20,012 --> 00:21:24,750 some of these tools and these strategies and these ways of working that were 290 00:21:24,750 --> 00:21:27,552 more creative than they were systematic. 291 00:21:27,586 --> 00:21:31,390 And that caught on a lot through that. 292 00:21:31,423 --> 00:21:36,194 But I really just have, I hope it doesn't sound ignorant 293 00:21:36,228 --> 00:21:39,531 or aloof, but I followed my needs. 294 00:21:39,564 --> 00:21:43,769 Sometimes I didn't even understand what my needs were, but I actually 295 00:21:43,769 --> 00:21:48,740 found my way into finding or following something that then revealed to me. 296 00:21:48,774 --> 00:21:51,677 Oh, well, Of course, I'm interested in voice. 297 00:21:51,710 --> 00:21:58,216 It's the thing that I probably will leave this Earth not fully realizing because of 298 00:21:58,250 --> 00:22:03,255 the way my nervous system works and my 299 00:22:03,288 --> 00:22:07,959 energy flares and crashes and stuff work. 300 00:22:07,993 --> 00:22:14,533 So I really have stumbled upon things that have allowed me to come into, 301 00:22:14,566 --> 00:22:21,506 it's a little bit of a catchphrase right now or a trend, but an embodied presence, 302 00:22:21,540 --> 00:22:28,914 which really understands it's my political right to be in my body in the way it is 303 00:22:28,947 --> 00:22:35,020 and experience pleasure like everybody else. 304 00:22:35,053 --> 00:22:37,489 And that's no longer from a perspective 305 00:22:37,522 --> 00:22:47,999 of trying to be the way others... a more normal or 306 00:22:48,033 --> 00:22:52,604 average functioning person would be. It's very different. There are different patterns. 307 00:22:52,604 --> 00:22:56,742 I don't have to talk to you about or anybody listening to this, really. 308 00:22:56,775 --> 00:23:00,812 So, yeah, that's really how it's happened, and that's how it continues to happen. 309 00:23:00,846 --> 00:23:04,883 I don't stop learning because I'm curious 310 00:23:04,916 --> 00:23:10,188 about being here for myself and with 311 00:23:10,222 --> 00:23:16,595 others in the service of the better good for all of us through the arts. 312 00:23:16,628 --> 00:23:23,502 And there's, in my experience in Saskatchewan, there's a lot of work 313 00:23:23,535 --> 00:23:27,272 that has to be done for the world 314 00:23:27,305 --> 00:23:34,579 to catch up to this idea that access is 315 00:23:34,613 --> 00:23:39,251 a really important thing for everybody. 316 00:23:39,251 --> 00:23:45,123 And I love to remind myself that our productivity in this organization, 317 00:23:45,157 --> 00:23:47,659 my own and others, is phenomenal. 318 00:23:47,692 --> 00:23:51,930 And it's partially because I work quite diligently with this idea 319 00:23:51,963 --> 00:23:54,499 that it's coming from us. 320 00:23:54,533 --> 00:23:57,669 So if we don't know how to look after ourselves within it, 321 00:23:57,702 --> 00:23:59,104 we're going to be hooped. 322 00:23:59,137 --> 00:24:05,944 So we work quite a lot with things such as somatic practices and voice work, 323 00:24:05,944 --> 00:24:11,149 which sounds like singing, but it's not just, and stuff like that, to stay as 324 00:24:11,183 --> 00:24:15,854 engaged with ourselves and our well-being as we possibly can in the moment. 325 00:24:16,521 --> 00:24:20,559 Can we talk about your Fitzmaurice Voicework? 326 00:24:20,592 --> 00:24:21,426 Yeah. 327 00:24:21,460 --> 00:24:27,599 It's one of the loves of my life, actually. 328 00:24:27,632 --> 00:24:30,535 And it's partially because of what it... 329 00:24:30,569 --> 00:24:34,406 Well, it's partially because of the people, of course, but the practice 330 00:24:34,406 --> 00:24:40,111 That was the beginning of something that was so transformative for me as a person 331 00:24:40,145 --> 00:24:46,585 and as an artist that I've not had time to really, truly reflect on it fully. 332 00:24:46,618 --> 00:24:52,023 But I met the founder of the work, who is Catherine Fitzmaurice, 333 00:24:52,057 --> 00:24:55,460 just an incredible human. 334 00:24:55,527 --> 00:25:00,332 Her son attended a workshop that I was doing at the Banff Centre 335 00:25:00,365 --> 00:25:02,400 for the Arts with Richard Armstrong. 336 00:25:02,434 --> 00:25:04,502 That's extended vocal work. 337 00:25:04,536 --> 00:25:08,106 And I had been engaged in that work for quite some time, very awkwardly. 338 00:25:08,139 --> 00:25:09,307 I love the space. 339 00:25:09,307 --> 00:25:12,611 It was safe, but I was very awkward in myself at that time. 340 00:25:12,611 --> 00:25:16,314 And Saul Kotzubei was there. 341 00:25:16,348 --> 00:25:18,483 And I watched him work. 342 00:25:18,517 --> 00:25:20,352 I watched how he engaged with people. 343 00:25:20,352 --> 00:25:26,091 I watched how he was very insightful when people had a bias or a tokenizing 344 00:25:26,091 --> 00:25:29,394 attitude towards people like myself. 345 00:25:29,427 --> 00:25:34,466 And so long story short, he invited me to taste the work. 346 00:25:34,499 --> 00:25:37,602 At that time, we didn't have Zoom, so we were doing it by literally 347 00:25:37,636 --> 00:25:41,006 by our landlines on the floor on speaker. 348 00:25:41,006 --> 00:25:46,144 So I touched the work with him that was happening in LA and New York, 349 00:25:46,177 --> 00:25:50,048 and he didn't persuade me. He invited me 350 00:25:50,048 --> 00:25:53,685 to participate in the teacher's training 351 00:25:53,685 --> 00:25:57,155 as the first Canadian, and I did. 352 00:25:57,188 --> 00:26:02,127 And it was a very wild journey because the 353 00:26:02,127 --> 00:26:04,763 work intersected with my art practice, 354 00:26:04,796 --> 00:26:07,198 of course, that was why I was there. 355 00:26:07,232 --> 00:26:10,802 But for me, more importantly, it intersected with some shifts 356 00:26:10,802 --> 00:26:17,742 in my psychological and physiological health that I had believed 357 00:26:17,776 --> 00:26:20,078 up until then weren't possible. 358 00:26:20,111 --> 00:26:27,118 So, yeah, I practiced, and I really feel like it was at that point that I found 359 00:26:27,152 --> 00:26:31,423 my voice, a way in which I could advocate 360 00:26:31,456 --> 00:26:35,760 for myself and feel - not always awkward. 361 00:26:35,794 --> 00:26:39,497 I'm always awkward, but safe within my awkwardness and discomfort. 362 00:26:39,531 --> 00:26:42,300 And so, yeah, it's a work that I love. 363 00:26:42,334 --> 00:26:46,137 And then I quickly, when I started, also 364 00:26:46,171 --> 00:26:49,841 was doing somatic experiencing work quite 365 00:26:49,874 --> 00:26:54,646 regularly, and I started integrating the two right away into the practice 366 00:26:54,679 --> 00:26:57,916 because I was interested in the integration of practices. 367 00:26:57,949 --> 00:27:02,754 And now, as a result of that, Saul got very interested 368 00:27:02,787 --> 00:27:08,093 in that and the whole organization has gotten interested 369 00:27:08,093 --> 00:27:12,364 in how to work in a way that 370 00:27:12,397 --> 00:27:16,067 asserts priority on understanding 371 00:27:16,101 --> 00:27:21,306 the importance of artists and the right of artists 372 00:27:21,339 --> 00:27:27,145 to have regulated nervous systems as opposed to be in the performative 373 00:27:27,178 --> 00:27:29,247 fury all the time. 374 00:27:31,583 --> 00:27:38,656 That's really interesting. I mean, the thought of mixing everything 375 00:27:38,690 --> 00:27:41,826 you've talked about, so the voice work, 376 00:27:41,826 --> 00:27:44,863 but also the access needs, but also 377 00:27:44,863 --> 00:27:52,237 the movements, but also wellness in general. 378 00:27:52,270 --> 00:27:58,843 It's always fascinating to see how these paths evolve in a way 379 00:27:58,877 --> 00:28:02,147 because it's not given. 380 00:28:02,180 --> 00:28:07,252 First of all, it can be very complicated as a path. 381 00:28:07,285 --> 00:28:09,587 It's great that... 382 00:28:09,621 --> 00:28:14,859 I'm glad to hear that you were able to add 383 00:28:14,893 --> 00:28:18,830 a little bit of bricks to everything 384 00:28:18,863 --> 00:28:24,903 and to offer that and to work with others to be able to develop these activities. 385 00:28:24,936 --> 00:28:29,941 Yeah, it's a real gift, and it really has... 386 00:28:29,974 --> 00:28:31,943 Disability-led, for example, I remember. 387 00:28:31,976 --> 00:28:35,346 I literally remember the day in the person who said, well, 388 00:28:35,346 --> 00:28:39,050 you folks are a disability led disability arts organization. 389 00:28:39,084 --> 00:28:43,488 I don't know how many we have in Canada, let alone in Saskatchewan. 390 00:28:43,488 --> 00:28:45,423 Here's us going, we're what? 391 00:28:45,457 --> 00:28:49,060 Because we hadn't heard the term before, and he had just been to a conference 392 00:28:49,094 --> 00:28:51,629 in the UK and brought it back with him. 393 00:28:51,663 --> 00:28:54,065 He was an artist we were working with. So there was that. 394 00:28:54,099 --> 00:28:57,202 And then not that long ago, three years ago, I think it was, 395 00:28:57,235 --> 00:29:01,840 I heard the phrase creation as care. 396 00:29:01,873 --> 00:29:06,010 Well, that was it for me because that If I was going to get the tattoo 397 00:29:06,044 --> 00:29:10,815 that I continue to wonder if I ever will before I leave this planet, it 398 00:29:10,849 --> 00:29:13,084 might be that, but might be other things. 399 00:29:13,084 --> 00:29:14,586 Anyway, Creation as care. 400 00:29:14,586 --> 00:29:17,222 That would be the summary of all my work. 401 00:29:17,255 --> 00:29:21,292 I've always looked for work in I could feel better 402 00:29:21,326 --> 00:29:26,331 than I typically do in my body. 403 00:29:26,364 --> 00:29:27,899 That's changed now. 404 00:29:27,932 --> 00:29:31,536 But the offering of places that intersect... 405 00:29:31,569 --> 00:29:37,208 As a disabled person, I can't remove care from my desire to create. 406 00:29:37,208 --> 00:29:38,576 It's never worked for me. 407 00:29:38,610 --> 00:29:43,314 I have a lot of burnout experience, and I see that in others. 408 00:29:43,348 --> 00:29:47,952 So that phrase, creation as care, makes 409 00:29:47,986 --> 00:29:52,957 my heart thump because I feel like, yes. 410 00:29:52,991 --> 00:29:57,562 And then I also feel like, why is that not understood? 411 00:29:57,562 --> 00:29:59,664 It's just across the board, because 412 00:29:59,664 --> 00:30:06,171 the better we are, the better we feel 413 00:30:06,204 --> 00:30:09,107 in our skin, the more productive we are. 414 00:30:09,140 --> 00:30:12,644 And that doesn't matter how we function. 415 00:30:12,677 --> 00:30:16,714 That includes all aspects of diversity. 416 00:30:16,748 --> 00:30:20,685 So, yeah, I love that. 417 00:30:20,818 --> 00:30:24,722 So what are the current projects that you're working on? 418 00:30:24,722 --> 00:30:28,259 I was trying to summarize it in my writing that I shared with you, that I didn't 419 00:30:28,293 --> 00:30:31,129 share the writing, but that I had doing a little outline, because I'm tired 420 00:30:31,162 --> 00:30:35,099 today, and I was afraid my conversational skills So it wouldn't be good. 421 00:30:35,133 --> 00:30:40,138 But I'm like, Which ones do I share? 422 00:30:40,138 --> 00:30:42,006 Share them all. 423 00:30:42,006 --> 00:30:43,908 Well, you don't want to say that. That'll take a while. 424 00:30:43,942 --> 00:30:47,178 But what projects? 425 00:30:47,212 --> 00:30:52,150 Okay, well, I'll - Listen to Dis, which we acronym LTD. 426 00:30:53,218 --> 00:30:58,323 The role I hold is as EDAD, so 427 00:30:58,356 --> 00:31:01,926 executive director and artistic director. 428 00:31:01,926 --> 00:31:06,865 I happen to be a founder with all the founding members 429 00:31:06,898 --> 00:31:13,004 and also do a lot of the creation work and programming and consultations. 430 00:31:13,004 --> 00:31:17,442 So that takes up a lot of my time and energy, quite honestly. 431 00:31:17,475 --> 00:31:22,113 So most of what I'm focused on is inside of that. 432 00:31:22,146 --> 00:31:31,623 And I feel really fortunate, actually, 433 00:31:31,656 --> 00:31:34,492 to be doing it and also to be doing it 434 00:31:34,525 --> 00:31:36,728 with the people I'm doing it with. 435 00:31:36,894 --> 00:31:40,164 And that's a truism. 436 00:31:40,164 --> 00:31:43,201 Within that, I was like, what do I share? 437 00:31:43,201 --> 00:31:46,304 Okay, well, what I'll share is there's a project that I'm super excited 438 00:31:46,304 --> 00:31:50,808 about because it intersects the disability like art service, 439 00:31:50,842 --> 00:31:56,681 so the disability consultation aspect in education, as well as performance. 440 00:31:56,714 --> 00:32:00,919 So our music ensemble, as I shared, they're called The Dripping Honeys, 441 00:32:00,952 --> 00:32:04,389 and our theater company, they're called The Other Ordinary, 442 00:32:04,422 --> 00:32:08,326 continue to build work, and then ideally, we're able to take that work 443 00:32:08,359 --> 00:32:10,862 if we get funding out into the province. 444 00:32:10,895 --> 00:32:18,236 So right now, we're building an initiative called the Axis of Access. 445 00:32:18,269 --> 00:32:20,672 So it's like the Axis of Access. 446 00:32:20,705 --> 00:32:27,211 And we're creating a living document with an organization called Saskatchewan Arts Alliance 447 00:32:27,211 --> 00:32:30,048 that outlines the foundation 448 00:32:30,048 --> 00:32:36,387 of access in our current landscape 449 00:32:36,421 --> 00:32:42,193 for organizations and funders. 450 00:32:42,226 --> 00:32:47,165 And it's modeled after the document "We See You, White America" that 451 00:32:47,198 --> 00:32:52,036 was done just It's pre or during COVID. 452 00:32:52,070 --> 00:32:59,610 And it's a demand of attention 453 00:32:59,610 --> 00:33:02,847 to creating access within organizations. 454 00:33:02,847 --> 00:33:08,553 And from from our perspective, what our initiative is to not only ask 455 00:33:08,586 --> 00:33:13,524 people to build access or be transparent about what they aren't able to do, 456 00:33:13,524 --> 00:33:18,396 but let's do it as a province in the art sector with continuity 457 00:33:18,429 --> 00:33:23,701 so that disabled people aren't reinventing, have to tell their story or 458 00:33:23,735 --> 00:33:28,840 wander from place to place in time to time what people understand and how much 459 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,275 they're going to have to share in order to belong, yada, yada, yada. 460 00:33:31,309 --> 00:33:36,447 So there's the document that's been in process for a while now, and it's 461 00:33:36,481 --> 00:33:42,019 just about ready to be released, and it will be revisited every 12 to 18 462 00:33:42,053 --> 00:33:45,390 months, hence the living aspect. 463 00:33:45,423 --> 00:33:48,726 And it will be accompanied with the music ensemble in tour. 464 00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:55,800 So the music ensemble will take the show that we presently have out, 465 00:33:55,833 --> 00:34:01,472 and eventually the new show we're developing that's loosely based on 466 00:34:01,506 --> 00:34:04,275 the history of disability culture. 467 00:34:04,308 --> 00:34:11,149 And we'll take the stories and the music out before we talk about the document 468 00:34:11,182 --> 00:34:15,286 or the politicize stuff so that people see themselves represented. 469 00:34:15,286 --> 00:34:19,957 They get excited and their souls open because that's partially what art does. 470 00:34:19,991 --> 00:34:22,960 And there's not as much defensiveness 471 00:34:22,994 --> 00:34:29,167 or only analytical response to this very 472 00:34:29,167 --> 00:34:33,838 political document that we're putting forward or this movement in the province. 473 00:34:33,871 --> 00:34:38,543 So that's something we're working on right now, and there's various stages 474 00:34:38,576 --> 00:34:41,045 or phases or stages, I guess, of that. 475 00:34:41,079 --> 00:34:44,949 There's the document itself and all the promotion and the events 476 00:34:44,949 --> 00:34:46,551 and all that are coming up. 477 00:34:46,584 --> 00:34:50,988 There's the beginning of development of the new work, which is we just 478 00:34:50,988 --> 00:34:55,460 did a four-week songwriting workshop 479 00:34:55,493 --> 00:34:58,296 with artist Kyrie Kristmanson, who's 480 00:34:58,329 --> 00:35:00,331 originally from here but lives in France. 481 00:35:00,331 --> 00:35:04,569 So we want to write our own music for this particular song, not use covers. 482 00:35:04,569 --> 00:35:08,005 And then write the monologs and stories, of course. 483 00:35:08,039 --> 00:35:11,108 So there's that work. And then there's the work of maintaining 484 00:35:11,142 --> 00:35:19,517 the level of, I mean, brilliant music and 485 00:35:19,550 --> 00:35:21,385 storytelling that they're already doing. 486 00:35:21,419 --> 00:35:25,356 So keeping the show that's current and can move out alive. 487 00:35:25,389 --> 00:35:28,893 Those are three aspects in that one project. 488 00:35:28,926 --> 00:35:30,862 So that's pretty important one. 489 00:35:30,895 --> 00:35:35,199 And this document will be published live, right? 490 00:35:35,233 --> 00:35:37,168 Everybody can access it. 491 00:35:37,168 --> 00:35:39,370 Yeah, I can invite you to come. 492 00:35:39,403 --> 00:35:45,109 We will have in-person and online introductions to it. 493 00:35:45,143 --> 00:35:52,049 And of course, it is a Saskatchewan-based initiative, but it's not 494 00:35:52,049 --> 00:35:55,119 for Saskatchewan only, obviously. 495 00:35:55,152 --> 00:35:57,788 Let me say this for sure, Diane. 496 00:35:57,822 --> 00:36:02,860 We've recently been very fortunate to begin to work with in our province. 497 00:36:02,894 --> 00:36:07,532 There's this organization called Saskatchewan Districts, and they work in 498 00:36:07,532 --> 00:36:10,168 sport, culture, and recreation. 499 00:36:10,168 --> 00:36:12,303 And the province is quite big, as you know. 500 00:36:12,336 --> 00:36:17,575 So there's large chunks that each 501 00:36:18,242 --> 00:36:20,678 district has. 502 00:36:20,711 --> 00:36:23,147 So there's seven of them in the province. 503 00:36:23,181 --> 00:36:27,118 And we started interacting and building a relationship with five of them. 504 00:36:27,151 --> 00:36:29,820 And that's why our tours are as successful as they are. 505 00:36:29,854 --> 00:36:34,125 We're no longer like we used to, just going out and hoping that the one 506 00:36:34,158 --> 00:36:38,329 or who people who know of us and want us to come can build enough. 507 00:36:38,329 --> 00:36:42,333 We've had such beautiful relationships building and collaborations 508 00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:48,172 with the district consultants and EDs and such, and therefore 509 00:36:48,206 --> 00:36:52,343 we've had big, big audience, and we continue to have big interest. 510 00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:56,914 So this is really an important aspect for us because we're no longer 511 00:36:56,948 --> 00:37:03,487 representing largely only in Regina and Saskatoon, the two main cities. 512 00:37:03,487 --> 00:37:07,925 So this is a big time for us, and it's so fertile because we're all 513 00:37:07,925 --> 00:37:14,165 learning so much together about what is in place and what isn't and such. 514 00:37:14,198 --> 00:37:16,267 Yeah, I'm sure about that. 515 00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:23,541 Also, this can be useful for everybody, the people who are curious, 516 00:37:23,574 --> 00:37:28,679 what is happening in the arts right now in terms of disability and culture? 517 00:37:28,713 --> 00:37:30,381 What is happening? 518 00:37:30,414 --> 00:37:32,950 How are things progressing? 519 00:37:32,984 --> 00:37:34,652 That's very important. 520 00:37:34,685 --> 00:37:36,420 Thank you for doing that. 521 00:37:36,454 --> 00:37:38,389 Thank you. Yeah, it feels important. 522 00:37:38,389 --> 00:37:40,691 We feel lucky because we're just doing our thing. 523 00:37:40,691 --> 00:37:46,130 Right now, I'm working very diligently at figuring out how we can reflect on what we do 524 00:37:46,130 --> 00:37:49,667 because we are pretty productive, and it continues to go, 525 00:37:49,667 --> 00:37:51,569 and it continues to grow. 526 00:37:51,569 --> 00:37:56,007 But the reflection on it would help us to be able to address the, 527 00:37:56,007 --> 00:37:57,241 how are you doing this? 528 00:37:57,275 --> 00:37:58,409 Or how did you do this? 529 00:37:58,442 --> 00:38:04,048 Or give us some tools, because really, a lot of it, it sounds so flippant. 530 00:38:04,081 --> 00:38:08,319 But it's like following the path of the heart 531 00:38:08,352 --> 00:38:12,790 in a gaggle of disabled people who have 532 00:38:12,790 --> 00:38:16,160 a desire to work as artists and also 533 00:38:16,193 --> 00:38:21,565 so reclaim their right for the better good 534 00:38:21,565 --> 00:38:23,668 of all of the people, 535 00:38:23,668 --> 00:38:27,805 the broader community of disabled people in the province and beyond. 536 00:38:27,838 --> 00:38:35,046 It sounds really big, but really, it's just moving along in its own way 537 00:38:35,046 --> 00:38:37,915 following one thing to another. 538 00:38:37,948 --> 00:38:43,688 I have a related question, and I like this question because everybody 539 00:38:43,721 --> 00:38:50,761 has a different notion or definition of accessibility in the arts or disability in the arts. 540 00:38:50,795 --> 00:38:55,499 What is it for you to work in accessibility in the arts 541 00:38:55,533 --> 00:38:56,701 or disability culture? 542 00:38:56,734 --> 00:38:58,836 What does it mean for you? 543 00:38:58,869 --> 00:39:02,807 Oh... you know, this one makes me shy, and I'm not sure why. 544 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:07,511 I'm going to look at my notes again. 545 00:39:07,912 --> 00:39:10,147 I recently had a... 546 00:39:10,181 --> 00:39:16,087 Last week I had an interview, and I truly feel 547 00:39:16,087 --> 00:39:21,192 a massive honor to be working 548 00:39:21,225 --> 00:39:26,130 in disability art at this time in history, and not because I like 549 00:39:26,163 --> 00:39:29,467 the fight, because I really don't. It's exhausting. 550 00:39:29,500 --> 00:39:33,037 However, I love the people 551 00:39:33,070 --> 00:39:38,008 and the camaraderie, the true 552 00:39:38,008 --> 00:39:45,983 relationship and community development that I've experienced within this work, 553 00:39:46,016 --> 00:39:51,589 which is very different to what I have experienced outside of the disability 554 00:39:51,622 --> 00:39:53,824 cultural and disability artwork. 555 00:39:53,824 --> 00:39:57,194 It's not that I didn't have community, but this is really... 556 00:39:57,194 --> 00:40:00,231 I feel like it's true. 557 00:40:00,231 --> 00:40:02,833 So I feel extremely honored. 558 00:40:02,867 --> 00:40:09,106 I also feel honored to be able to be working with this movement, this team of people, 559 00:40:09,106 --> 00:40:15,413 people like yourself, to broaden the understanding of other people, 560 00:40:15,446 --> 00:40:21,085 so it's no longer thought about as like, I can't ask that, I feel awkward, 561 00:40:21,085 --> 00:40:24,422 or that's not the way it goes. This is how the way it goes. 562 00:40:24,455 --> 00:40:26,757 We're claiming voice and those things. 563 00:40:26,791 --> 00:40:33,764 I feel very touched, maybe it's a better word, to be a part in watching people 564 00:40:33,764 --> 00:40:40,571 open their minds and their hearts, realize that their ignorance and 565 00:40:40,571 --> 00:40:44,875 their biases were hidden in many cases. 566 00:40:44,909 --> 00:40:50,047 And now, although it doesn't feel great to have that realization, that opening, 567 00:40:50,047 --> 00:40:56,320 being brave enough and courageous enough to go, yes, okay, I made it through that. 568 00:40:56,353 --> 00:41:03,727 Now, what can we do to work or support this initiative? 569 00:41:03,727 --> 00:41:10,701 That feels like something that I'm not able to define yet, really, 570 00:41:10,734 --> 00:41:13,904 in a way, because it feels significant. 571 00:41:13,904 --> 00:41:16,340 It feels like you're a real part of something. 572 00:41:16,373 --> 00:41:18,943 In a way, it is activism. 573 00:41:18,976 --> 00:41:22,413 It is passive activism, but it is education. 574 00:41:22,446 --> 00:41:24,682 Education, for me, it's activism. 575 00:41:24,715 --> 00:41:28,252 It's showing people, look, this is real, right? 576 00:41:28,285 --> 00:41:29,954 It's part of a world. 577 00:41:29,987 --> 00:41:33,891 Some people never dealt with anything disability-related, 578 00:41:33,924 --> 00:41:38,796 especially in the arts and knowing how it is, the lack of access 579 00:41:38,829 --> 00:41:46,103 and the preconceived ideas that artists with disabilities cannot be artists. 580 00:41:46,103 --> 00:41:48,539 And so with your work - 581 00:41:48,539 --> 00:41:52,710 We both make the same faces when we... [Laughs.] 582 00:41:52,710 --> 00:41:53,777 But thank you. 583 00:41:53,811 --> 00:41:56,413 It feels, Diane, it's always... 584 00:41:56,447 --> 00:42:02,820 I love speaking with just about everyone, 585 00:42:02,853 --> 00:42:05,856 and It is, though, really different 586 00:42:05,856 --> 00:42:11,228 when you know you're in a conversation with somebody who understands the very 587 00:42:11,262 --> 00:42:17,768 thing that we're talking about, because we're often in the role of activist 588 00:42:17,801 --> 00:42:20,771 without thinking about it at at all, right? 589 00:42:20,771 --> 00:42:25,009 I know my friends, some of my community of artists who I was working with prior 590 00:42:25,042 --> 00:42:31,081 to any of this work, once in a while, there'll be these statements, 591 00:42:31,115 --> 00:42:34,051 which are mind-blowing, actually. 592 00:42:34,084 --> 00:42:40,791 They're so rigid, but the intention isn't bad. 593 00:42:40,791 --> 00:42:47,631 People will actually say, well, it's like these folks have become 594 00:42:47,631 --> 00:42:50,601 your true community and your true friends. 595 00:42:50,634 --> 00:42:55,539 It's like, yes, because they are. 596 00:42:55,572 --> 00:43:01,478 But some people really can't see past difference that's very visible. 597 00:43:01,512 --> 00:43:04,949 That's just heartbreaking. 598 00:43:04,982 --> 00:43:10,421 Speaking of community and friends and people you have worked with, 599 00:43:10,454 --> 00:43:15,659 I would like to ask you if you have people you're thinking of when you're 600 00:43:15,693 --> 00:43:19,463 thinking of your career, when you're thinking of everything you've 601 00:43:19,496 --> 00:43:23,300 accomplished so far, those who have counted, 602 00:43:23,334 --> 00:43:28,238 if you have a few people you have in mind and you want to name them, 603 00:43:28,272 --> 00:43:29,873 who would it be and why? 604 00:43:29,907 --> 00:43:31,342 Oh, boy. 605 00:43:31,375 --> 00:43:38,515 I'll name one of my earlier 606 00:43:38,515 --> 00:43:42,186 teachers and then mentors, Amelia Itcush. 607 00:43:42,219 --> 00:43:47,024 She was a dancer and a somatic practitioner of the Mitzvah technique. 608 00:43:47,057 --> 00:43:50,661 That's the first body technique that started to unravel some of the tensions 609 00:43:50,694 --> 00:43:56,266 I was led to believe that were just by proxy of who I was 610 00:43:56,266 --> 00:43:59,203 and what I was as a disabled person. 611 00:43:59,236 --> 00:44:04,908 So Amelia passed on some time ago 612 00:44:05,309 --> 00:44:09,847 But her work began to open me up to 613 00:44:09,847 --> 00:44:14,084 understanding that I did belong, 614 00:44:14,084 --> 00:44:18,422 I'll say that, in this body and in the world. 615 00:44:18,455 --> 00:44:21,425 And also set me on the path 616 00:44:21,458 --> 00:44:26,196 to understanding in my work, biodynamic 617 00:44:26,230 --> 00:44:29,733 or somatic body, breath and voice work. 618 00:44:29,767 --> 00:44:34,471 So very, very instrumental in my life and in all of my practices and all of 619 00:44:34,505 --> 00:44:37,775 the work I do with community. 620 00:44:39,009 --> 00:44:45,249 I'll say Petra Kuppers just because, you know, how not? 621 00:44:45,249 --> 00:44:46,750 All the books. 622 00:44:46,784 --> 00:44:51,255 I'll never forget that she was coming here once to Regina, which was a big feat 623 00:44:51,288 --> 00:44:53,490 in and of itself, and it was a while ago. 624 00:44:53,490 --> 00:44:58,896 And it was like Mick Jagger was coming here or something. 625 00:44:58,929 --> 00:45:00,164 I was so excited. 626 00:45:00,197 --> 00:45:03,567 I was going to be in a boardroom on a committee in that same room. 627 00:45:03,567 --> 00:45:06,704 And a number of things happened. 628 00:45:06,737 --> 00:45:11,809 They became a bit ill and chose to do it virtually instead. 629 00:45:11,809 --> 00:45:14,578 And no apology for... You know what I mean? 630 00:45:14,611 --> 00:45:19,216 Just so very clear about how to look after themselves in the body 631 00:45:19,249 --> 00:45:20,517 and mind that they're in. 632 00:45:20,551 --> 00:45:21,552 And so that happened. 633 00:45:21,552 --> 00:45:23,921 There was no question about it. 634 00:45:23,954 --> 00:45:25,322 That was what was happening. 635 00:45:25,355 --> 00:45:27,391 And then we were all in this really... 636 00:45:27,391 --> 00:45:28,625 I don't like boardrooms. 637 00:45:28,625 --> 00:45:31,528 I actually do have a visceral response to the black rooms 638 00:45:31,562 --> 00:45:33,397 and black chairs with big tables. 639 00:45:33,430 --> 00:45:36,467 And we were in one of those and I'm like, ugh, 640 00:45:36,467 --> 00:45:39,436 I'm not going to breathe as easy even with all my techniques. 641 00:45:39,470 --> 00:45:43,774 And they came on and started talking to us and we're like, before we start, 642 00:45:43,774 --> 00:45:45,776 I'm just going to remind you that we're all human. 643 00:45:45,809 --> 00:45:50,581 So I want you to go lean into somebody, feel each other's body 644 00:45:50,614 --> 00:45:54,017 and take a breath or two and just remember everybody in there has 645 00:45:54,051 --> 00:45:57,821 the political right to be in their body in the way that they are, boom. 646 00:45:57,855 --> 00:46:02,693 I feel like in some way, part of me stood on the table 647 00:46:02,726 --> 00:46:05,963 and fainted because I was so excited. 648 00:46:05,996 --> 00:46:08,899 Of course, that didn't happen, but from a theatrical 649 00:46:08,932 --> 00:46:10,768 perspective, that's how it felt. 650 00:46:10,768 --> 00:46:14,705 It was one of the best meetings where all of us were different. 651 00:46:14,738 --> 00:46:17,040 We were doing some initiative that we didn't know each other. 652 00:46:17,074 --> 00:46:21,578 There was no commonality in there, at all except for Petra and what we 653 00:46:21,612 --> 00:46:23,180 were going to do with this conference. 654 00:46:23,213 --> 00:46:25,983 Anyway, so that's somebody who I'd name. 655 00:46:26,016 --> 00:46:29,853 And then last, but definitely not least, possibly number one 656 00:46:29,887 --> 00:46:35,959 for me are the people who I've gotten to work with in Saskatchewan. 657 00:46:35,993 --> 00:46:39,830 The people at the front lines of changing. 658 00:46:39,863 --> 00:46:42,599 Truly, it sounds like an ego thing, and it really isn't. 659 00:46:42,633 --> 00:46:44,968 It's anything but. We've been bulldozed a lot. 660 00:46:44,968 --> 00:46:50,507 But shifting culture in this province for the last 18 years has been quite a thing. 661 00:46:50,541 --> 00:46:54,044 And in the last 10 years with the theater company, and now this performance 662 00:46:54,077 --> 00:46:57,948 company, but mostly the theater company because it was brand new. 663 00:46:57,981 --> 00:47:02,319 There are people like John Loeppky, who, I mean, he's just a gem, 664 00:47:02,352 --> 00:47:06,857 and he was going to possibly be a collaborator of mine and successor, 665 00:47:06,890 --> 00:47:11,562 but he learned really early on that he wanted to do more of his own work 666 00:47:11,562 --> 00:47:14,097 and would not be able to with all the administration stuff. 667 00:47:14,131 --> 00:47:18,869 So John Loeppky, who's a journalist, a disabled journalist and actor, 668 00:47:18,902 --> 00:47:21,905 artist, Just big, big kudos. 669 00:47:21,939 --> 00:47:24,141 Natasha Urkow, also one of the 670 00:47:24,174 --> 00:47:29,012 founding members of the theater company. 671 00:47:29,046 --> 00:47:35,352 I mean, quadriplegic at 18, sets her mind to continue to do the things 672 00:47:35,352 --> 00:47:42,125 she was setting to do before the accident, and does all the theater work and other 673 00:47:42,159 --> 00:47:47,531 things with us, becomes a programmer, and then went back towards 674 00:47:47,531 --> 00:47:53,070 some of her own work and became one of the main actors on CBC Push. 675 00:47:53,103 --> 00:47:57,641 And also, I think her big ad campaign that she went to France for 676 00:47:57,674 --> 00:48:01,511 was lam cone, like an adapter for putting lipstick on and stuff. 677 00:48:01,511 --> 00:48:04,314 And she was the chosen model from Canada. 678 00:48:04,348 --> 00:48:05,882 So people like that. 679 00:48:05,882 --> 00:48:09,686 Shaylee Rosnes, who I work with right now, she's somebody who's an actor. 680 00:48:09,720 --> 00:48:16,793 She's the main monologist and actor in the music ensemble, and everyone loves 681 00:48:16,827 --> 00:48:19,096 to listen to Shaylee, really, truly. 682 00:48:19,129 --> 00:48:20,664 She's got that thing. 683 00:48:20,697 --> 00:48:26,069 And then she's also my administrative companion. 684 00:48:26,103 --> 00:48:29,439 Isn't it not appropriate to say assistance in this case? 685 00:48:29,439 --> 00:48:29,907 Assistant. 686 00:48:29,940 --> 00:48:33,677 Those folks and all of the others that I won't say their names 687 00:48:33,710 --> 00:48:35,312 of because we'd be here for a while. 688 00:48:35,345 --> 00:48:36,546 They truly... 689 00:48:36,546 --> 00:48:40,484 I mean, it's a weird word to use because we fight this word, but they 690 00:48:40,517 --> 00:48:45,789 inspire me daily, too, to continue on with what we're doing together 691 00:48:45,789 --> 00:48:49,259 and also just be a good person. 692 00:48:49,293 --> 00:48:52,863 Yeah, fantastic people. 693 00:48:52,896 --> 00:48:53,897 Some of the names. 694 00:48:53,931 --> 00:49:00,570 I remember a workshop with Petra, and they made us breathe. 695 00:49:00,570 --> 00:49:02,639 Just that, right? 696 00:49:02,673 --> 00:49:06,643 Just the fact to, Okay, guys, we're going to start this meeting by breathing. 697 00:49:06,643 --> 00:49:08,645 [Laughs.] 698 00:49:08,945 --> 00:49:10,814 Thank you. 699 00:49:10,847 --> 00:49:12,683 I know, right? 700 00:49:12,683 --> 00:49:17,621 Truly, we don't enter a meeting, and that is administrative meetings, where 701 00:49:17,654 --> 00:49:22,659 we don't ask for people, we tell people that we need to move at the speed 702 00:49:22,693 --> 00:49:26,730 of trust, not to ignite too much activation and have a symptom flare. 703 00:49:26,763 --> 00:49:33,370 So we start our own personal meetings and our meetings with other people, much 704 00:49:33,403 --> 00:49:39,009 to the chagrin of some folks, I'll say, with touching in and breathing together 705 00:49:39,042 --> 00:49:41,478 before we start to converse. 706 00:49:41,511 --> 00:49:45,482 I mean, well, we swear by it because we're 707 00:49:45,515 --> 00:49:48,819 still here against all odds in some ways. 708 00:49:48,819 --> 00:49:51,355 I mean in terms of the sector. 709 00:49:52,155 --> 00:49:56,259 Well, thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful stories 710 00:49:56,259 --> 00:49:58,962 with ArtsAbly today. 711 00:49:58,996 --> 00:50:04,668 There's going to be a resource page that is accompanying this interview, and we're 712 00:50:04,668 --> 00:50:10,240 going to publish everything you told us. 713 00:50:10,273 --> 00:50:15,879 I look forward to really discovering more 714 00:50:15,912 --> 00:50:18,081 of the documents, the document you 715 00:50:18,115 --> 00:50:22,285 will share and the work of the company. 716 00:50:22,319 --> 00:50:28,191 Also, there is a little video that opens the interview. 717 00:50:28,225 --> 00:50:34,097 It's not the full video, so go to the Listen to Dis' website and look at 718 00:50:34,131 --> 00:50:37,667 the work that is done, it's fantastic. 719 00:50:37,701 --> 00:50:39,069 Thank you so much again. 720 00:50:39,102 --> 00:50:40,771 Thank you so, so much. 721 00:50:40,804 --> 00:50:43,006 It's been my pleasure. 722 00:50:43,006 --> 00:50:43,407 Okay. 723 00:50:43,440 --> 00:50:49,479 Have a fantastic day, and maybe soon in the artistic world. 724 00:50:49,513 --> 00:50:50,547 Yes. 725 00:50:50,547 --> 00:50:52,649 Until next time. 726 00:50:52,649 --> 00:50:53,984 Okay. Bye. 727 00:50:53,984 --> 00:50:54,918 Bye. 728 00:50:55,419 --> 00:51:00,557 ♪ Closing theme music ♪