The Disabled Avant-Garde (Katherine Araniello and Aaron Williamson) discuss their new studio and their recent commission to create a dance piece for the opening of a fountain in Wolverhampton.

DAMAGED DANCE

A film by the Disabled Avant-Garde

Ever wondered why disabled people are often employed for things they are entirely unsuited? The para-olympics, stand up comedy, crafts art, and, above all, contemporary dance.
Wince-along as the Disabled Avant-Garde, newly ensconsed in their lush new studio, meet the world-renowned able-bodied choreographer Madame Commander to devise a dance piece to launch a new public fountain in Wolverhampton.
Share the Madames horror as she realises that one of her dancers is wheelchair bound and the other as deaf as the proverbial lamppost he seems to have bumped into.
The tightly constructed film builds to a crescendo when, in broad-daylight on a cobble-stoned plaza, the DAG - draped in silver foil - cut a bunch of hot moves as the appalled single-figures audience titters in discomfort.

A satire on the body-aesthetics of contemporary dance, Damaged Dance also depicts (for the first time!) the often-discussed disability ghetto of tick-box arts funding. (less info)