Re-Presenting Barriers and Bridges: Practice as Research in a New Dance Project about Ability

This practice-based research project argues that the sharing of personal stories of ability in a world that does not yet meet the needs of people with disabilities, can promote a more inclusive practice of being in the world. As an artist (performer, dancer, visual artist) who uses a manual wheelchair full-time for mobility, I submit this research as a creative praxis exploring the tensions of social inclusion and exclusion. The project overall (in theory and practice) focuses on obstacles and interactions in daily life, and creates layers of auto- ethnographic materials to develop a visceral experience for the audience, intended to create insights by exposing individual and parallel struggles with barriers. This report offers a discussion and documentation of an original performance (process and ‘product’) along with a critical analysis of the auto-ethnographic method applied, including a summary of the learning outcomes (personal, political, performative and academic) of the project overall