DANCING Workshop
Guest speakers: Sho Shibata and Lucy Bennett, Stopgap Dance Co.
Venue: Maynooth University
23rd August 2022
A number of guests joined the DANCING team for a workshop titled “Inclusive Dance: Addressing Challenges, Sharing Experiences, and Exploring Tools for Participatory Research”. These included: Lucy Bennett and Sho Shibata, our collaborators from Stopgap Dance Company, a UK-based inclusive dance company; Victoria Durrer, Assistant Professor (Ad Astra Fellow) at the School of Art History and Cultural Policy, UCD; Sarah Whatley, Directory of Centre for Dance Research at Coventry University; and Pádraig Naughton, executive director of Arts & Disability Ireland.
The focus of this workshop was to explore inclusive dance approaches as an innovative form of participatory research. This workshop linked to the arts-based and empirical research elements of the DANCING project, which are largely conducted within in Work Package 1 and aim to develop and showcase inclusive practices for audiences and performers by elaborating on barriers and facilitators to accessing cultural consumption and production alike. Additionally, the workshop served as an opportunity to discuss participatory research methods and the involvement of stakeholders in academic and scientific research in a safe environment intending to advance research practices and academic knowledge acquisition.
