Research and Creation Commission. Maxine was charged by Lawrence Shapiro, performer of integrated dance-theatre and an advocate for disability arts particularly regarding the amputated body,  to challenge him to extend his physical and expressive abilities into the professional spheres of performance.

Joining them were dance artists Suzanne Liska and Mateo Galindo Torres. Assisting in the process were assistant director Michela Sisti, and mixed-abilities dance specialist Michelle Silagy.

The result was 11 dance sketches – solos, duets and trios – in various dance modes- pure movement, contact dance, self-expression and theatrical interaction, with the goal of revealing to the audience-as-witness the inherent effort in the creation and presentation and the implied political and social content of integrated-dance work. 

Presented as the raw research that it was, at AKI Theatre June 2016, the work bears examination for future iterations.  

For more information about the process and outcomes, please refer to the Across Oceans’ Discovering Dance section.