About Sunrise (2022)
Sunrise: A case study in movement scores and Disability Justice, is a new work premiering as part of Dance Escape 2022, UCI Dance’s annual spring concert of MFA student choreography. In creating Sunrise, Bradford Chin and collaborators centered Disability Justice and drew upon critical pedagogy and emergence theory to explore power sharing and co-authorship in creative process. Researched and developed over two years, Sunrise presents a site of learning and aesthetic shift toward increased inclusion and accessibility in concert dance practices.
Premiere
Dance Escape 2022
presented by the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, Department of Dance
University of California, Irvine
April 14 & 15, 8:00pm
April 16, 2:00pm (w/ livestream) & 8:00pm
Audio Description available here: Sunrise trailer w/ AD & Open Captions
ASL interpretation available here: Sunrise trailer w/ ASL & Open Captions
Facilitator’s Note
Sunrise: A case study in movement scores and Disability Justice finally premieres April 14-16, at the University of California, Irvine. I have been researching and developing this work since 2020. At the time, I was still with AXIS Dance Company and questioning how mainstream physically integrated dance (and everyone else in dance!) could expand its current practices to realize greater inclusion in concert dance.
This creative process was guided by principles of Disability Justice (as proposed by Patty Berne / Sins Invalid) and critical pedagogy. Centering Disability Justice in this creative process was key to facilitating inclusion with an intersectional lens beyond non/disability as a single-issue identity factor. Prioritizing the dancer-collaborators’ holistic wellness and agency throughout the creative process involved everything from movement invention choices to individual costuming choices around pants/dresses and socks/bare feet. These equity-oriented artistic choices provided an opportunity to collaboratively explore the impact of disability, gender, race, and class on concert dance aesthetics and conceptions of the body.
I am indebted to my many collaborators, who have continuously shown me the impact of power sharing on inclusion. Through the past two years, this process has shifted and morphed, guided by the unique collaborators at each stage. The fluidity of this process exemplifies the dynamic nature of inclusion, equity, and justice efforts, which includes access/ibility. Inclusion, equity, and justice are not fixed points achieved with a checklist of completed tasks; they are a constantly shifting process of dialogue, power-sharing, and community care.
Sunrise offers several audience accessibility components (Audio Description, ASL interpretation, captions), which have not yet been done at UCI Dance. It has been challenging to realize these components in a less-than-ideal manner, but I am grateful to the Department of Dance and the Claire Trevor School of the Arts – and especially Dr. Kelli Sharp, Jake Arpaia, Joel Veenstra, and Shih-Wei Carrasco-Wu – for their support in this crucial first move toward greater inclusion. Onward and upward from here! Please note that these accessibility components are available both in-person and virtually via livestream, but only for Sunrise and not the rest of the concert. Innumerable thanks as well to Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Lauren Rotante, Dillon Zamora, and Dr. S. Ama Wray for your counsel and assistance in realizing Sunrise‘s accessibility components.
If you or someone you know are interested in attending (in-person or virtually), but the ticket prices present a financial burden, please contact me! Additionally, please be advised that the University of California, Irvine, no longer requires masks on campus despite the ongoing pandemic. There will be unmasked people in the theater, and I understand and support you if that impacts your decision to attend in-person.
Collaborator Credits and Community Gratitude
SUNRISE: A CASE STUDY IN MOVEMENT SCORES AND DISABILITY JUSTICE (2022, University of California, Irvine)
Choreography: The dancers, Bradford Chin, Lauren Rotante
Dancers: Caitlyn Cargnoni, Ashton Craven, Amanda Martz, Emma Mertens, Elizabeth Sah, Coral Scialpi, Alexa Wade, Alicia Young
Movement Script: Bradford Chin and Lauren Rotante
Rehearsal Assistant: Lauren Rotante
Audio Describer: Dillon Zamora
ASL Student Interpreter: Lauren Rotante
Performance Access Video: Lauren Rotante, Vanessa Hernández Cruz, Bradford Chin
Sound Design: Jeff Polunas
Music: “II. Sunrise” from Sunrise Mass, written by Ola Gjeilo; performed and recorded by Westminster Williamson Voices, James Jordan, conductor; used with permission from GIA Publications, Inc.
Costume Design: Natalie Oga
Lighting Design: Jimmy Balistreri
Stage Manager: Jake Arpaia
Concert Director: Dr. Kelli Sharp
SUNRISE PROMOTIONAL TRAILER (2022)
Director, Videographer, and Editor: Bradford Chin
Audio Describer, Captioner, and Access Consultant: Vanessa Hernández Cruz
ASL Student Interpreter: Lauren Rotante
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT: SOLO ENSEMBLE (Virtual/International, Fall/Winter 2020)
Maylis Arrabit (Saint Pierre d’Irube, France)
Stephanie Cheung (Los Angeles, CA)
Erik “Clyde Sapere” Debono (San Francisco, CA)
Paige Geissler (Chicago, IL)
Jhia Jackson (San Francisco, CA)
Janice Laurence (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Toby MacNutt (Burlington, VT)
Tatiana Nori (Daly City, CA)
Sonya Rio-Glick (Atlanta, GA)
Tajh Stallworth (Oakland, CA)
Joshua Tuason (Providence, RI)
Meredith Aleigha Wells (Chicago, IL)
Justin Yee (New York, NY)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT: SOUTH FLORIDA (Summer 2021)
Alyssa Foglia (University of Florida)
Ryan Jaffe (Southern Methodist University)
J.J. Butler (Vantage Pointe Dance Studios)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE, DEPARTMENT OF DANCE (Fall 2021)
Professor Charlotte Griffin and UCI Dance’s Modern Technique IV dancers
SPECIAL THANKS
Canton Winer, ABD (University of California, Irvine)
Dr. Kelli Sharp (University of California, Irvine)
Charlotte Griffin (University of California, Irvine)
Dr. S. Ama Wray (University of California, Irvine)
Ellice Patterson (Abilities Dance Boston)
Victoria Marks (University of California, Los Angeles)
Joel Veenstra (University of California, Irvine)
Shih-Wei Carrasco-Wu (University of California, Irvine)
