Since 2015, BodyWise Dance has led an Inclusive Dance program for MVLE, a service organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), including diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Traumatic Brain Injury. Together, the ensemble of professional performers and novices create original stage productions which tour to local venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, Fort Belvoir USO, and George Mason’s Hylton Center for the Performing Arts.
Premiering spring of 2020, It’s About Us invites audience members to join the cast on stage! Learn a warm-up from our rehearsal practice, explore some of the questions that have helped us create the show and then . . . watch as your ideas help shape the action. Designed for cabaret-style, informal settings, this performance creates the world we want, full of great dancing, fun conversation, and surprising encounters. We walk away more invested in one another. This production is the perfect complement to any Diversity, Equity & Inclusion training or advocacy program.
Audience members at our sneak peek performances this fall are saying, “How wonderful! “Such a deep message.” “Where do they rehearse? How they do that?” and “We really needed to see that message at this time.”
Director Margot Greenlee reflected after a recent rehearsal, “The scene we worked on today tells the story of our cast member Matthew Chappell who recently went to the zoo with his family. On the metro ride home, he noticed that the announcements about getting ready for the doors to open really helped him. He moves slowly and needs the extra time to prepare to get up and navigate to the door. He also appreciated that the door bounces back if he’s still in the doorway so that it doesn’t hurt him. This scene is ripe with movement, character, and sound. The flashing lights, the jostle of the subway car, the zoo animals. It also encapsulates an important thing for people of all abilities to appreciate. Urban design, when done well, truly impacts how individuals with disabilities participate in civic life.”
Performing at the MVLE annual dinner.
Want to book It’s About Us? Please call Director Margot Greenlee at 202.253.7946.
For information about MVLE, contact Sarah Caldwell at m: 703-894-8247 or SCaldwell@mvle.org.
Performances are made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; Virginia Commission for the Arts; and ARTSFAIRFAX. MVLE, Inc. is a nonprofit whose mission is to create futures one person at a time for individuals with disabilities through community-based employment and support services. The MVLE Moves program provides weekly performing arts education and movement therapy for over 150 individuals.