Events & Calendars Kinetic Light Screening and Discussion with Alice Sheppard

In preparation for her February 26 public lecture, disabled dancer/choreographer Alice Sheppard will introduce the Five College community to the work of her company Kinetic Light and its undergirding concepts of intersectional disability arts, disability aesthetics, and aesthetic access. We will watch clips of performances, and Dr. Jina Kim will moderate the discussion. Open to the Five College community. Five College Dance students, faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to attend in order to gain a foundational understanding of Alice's work and aesthetic.

Register here: https://amherstcollege.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUodeiorTopHtxTGn5Upnj…

Bios:
Alice Sheppard is the Artistic Director of Kinetic Light, a leading disability arts ensemble. She studied ballet and modern dance with Kitty Lunn and made her debut with Infinity Dance Theater. After an apprenticeship, Sheppard joined AXIS Dance Company, where she toured and taught in the company’s education and outreach programs. As an independent artist, she has danced in projects with Ballet Cymru, GDance, and Marc Brew Company in the U.K. and Full Radius Dance, Marjani Forté, MBDance, Infinity Dance Theater, and Steve Paxton in the U.S. Her choreography has been commissioned by Full Radius Dance, CRIPSiE, and MOMENTA.

As a Bessie award-winning choreographer, Sheppard creates movement that challenges conventional understandings of disabled and dancing bodies. Engaging disability arts, culture, and history, she is intrigued by the intersections of disability, gender, and race. In addition to performance and choreography, Sheppard is a sought-after speaker and has lectured on topics related to disability arts, race, and dance. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and in academic journals.

Jina B. Kim is an Assistant Professor of English and the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College, and a 2016 PhD graduate of the Women’s Studies and English Program at the University of Michigan. She teaches and writes about critical disability studies, feminist- and queer-of-color critique, and contemporary ethnic American literature. She is currently at work on a book manuscript titled Dreaming of Infrastructure: Crip-of-Color Imaginaries after the US Welfare State. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Signs, Social Text, MELUS, American Quarterly, Disability Studies Quarterly, The South Atlantic Quarterly, and The Asian American Literary Review.