FEDORA - Dance training for people with a disability

Presentation

Kobe was dancing in his bedroom for years. Thanks to Platform-K, he has already performed in several productions.

Hannah was dreaming about becoming a dancer since she was little. But she had no access to professional dance training.

Like this, there are many stories...

If you have a learning disability and you dream of becoming a dancer, you have very limited options. People with a disability are excluded from professional dance training.

The mission of Platform-K is to fill this gap. We believe that dancers with a disability are an added value to the contemporary dance scene.

To do this, we train dancers with a disability and we create productions with dancers with and without a disability.

At Platform-K, we invest in dancers with a disability. The goal of an inclusive dance scene can only be reached if we have dancers with a disability who are professionally trained.

How do we work?

On the one hand, we offer training programmes to people with a disability. We give them tools to become strong, self-aware dancers.

On the other hand, we change the perception of dance companies and dance school.

Our training programme consists of different modules.

Beginners: Basic dance training. Motivation and talent are the key selection criteria.

Advanced level: we support dancers to develop a personal dance identity. We offer yoga (strength, flexibility and concentration), contemporary dance technique (technique translated to their bodies), creative lab (improvisation) and presentation. We also have coaching sessions to exchange ideas, feedback and ambitions.

Individual trajectory: the dancers in the advanced level need more challenge. Therefore, we offer residencies and work together with dance academies (level graduate school). In residencies, we create time and space for two dancers: one dancer with and one without a disability. Together they explore the possibilities of cooperation. This can lead to a presentation, but the focus is more on the process. We also collaborate with dance academies. Some dancers attend a course in the regular dance educational field. We believe this is interesting in both ways: for the dancer with a disability it is challenging, for the students of the dance academy it opens their eyes and shows them a different world and inspiration. E.g. Hannah attented courses with Ultima Vez, Belgian company of Wim Vandekeybus.

Artistic Team

Platform-K is a dance company based in Ghent, Belgium. We train dancers with a disability. We create dance productions.