PUSHMAKERS TOWNHALL

On May 31st 2024, Guest Curator Shay Erlich and Dancemakers Interim Artistic Producer Christina de la Cruz hosted a townhall to share research findings from the Pushmakers project as well as hold a discussion on the greater disability dance landscape.

GUEST CURATOR SHAY ERLICH

[Image Description: Shay, a white, non-binary, trans-masc human looks directly at the camera grinning. They have short brown hair that is cut close on the sides and longer on the top. They have facial piercings in their eyebrow and nose. Shay is wearing a short-sleeve button-down shirt that is dark blue and has a green and maroon plant pattern all over it]

Shay Erlich (they/them) is a disability justice world builder living in Tkaronto. Their work both creatively and professionally reimagines a disability-centered world where disabled people are empowered to love themselves and live free from stigma, shame, and ableism.

They are a champion of disability inclusion in the arts and media sector – working with organizations such as the City of Toronto Arts and Culture department, Canada Media Fund, DAWN Canada, the National Arts Centre – National Creation Fund; where Shay is a disability-arts curatorial advisor. Shay’s writing on the arts can be found in many publications including The Dance Current, alt.theatre, and The Cripsters.

Their body of work also includes a significant dance career. Shay was a co-choreographer and dancer of A Provocation on Wheels I and Safe Words (I didn’t say broccoli) with The Cyborg Circus Project. The film version of A Provocation on Wheels I was part of the festival circuit as a selected short at the Contact Dance International Film Festival, the ReelAbilities Film Festival (Toronto), and the Chinook Festival. Shay’s work with other dance companies includes Heart2Heart by Political Movement, and SPUR of the Moment Shakespere Collective. Shay has participated in many prestigious residency and artistic development opportunities including The Inkling Incubator (2019), New Blue Kaeja d’Dance Creative Risk Residency (2019) and Dancing Disability Lab (2020). Recently Shay was the inaugural Accessible Futures artist in residence with North York Arts where they choreographed and produced a short dance film Landscapes: Love Letters to Willow.

See the original call for the Pushmakers Residency Lab below!

[Image Description: Flyer for Pushmakers' Residency has black text is layered on a background of orange, yellow and peach shapes saying the following:"Calling all wheelchair dancers: With the support of Dancemakers, Guest Curator Shay Erlich will be facilitating The Pushmakers Residency lab. What: A residency for manual wheelchair dancers to develop and document movement vocabulary in wheelchair dance. When: July and August 2024 (3 weeks, total of 40 hours of work). Who: Seeking manual wheelchair dancers who have some previous experience of dance training or performance. Multiply marginalized wheelchair dancers will be prioritized for this opportunity. How: Visit www.dancemakers.org/pushmakers for application details!” Dancemakers logo of black and grey text reading “DANCEMAKERS CENTRE FOR CREATION” is at the bottom of the flyer.]

Guest Curator Shay Erlich Call To Artists
The Pushmakers Residency Lab 
Supported by Dancemakers

Deadline: December 15th at midnight EST
Results Notifications: January 5th 2024

As one of Dancemakers’ 2023/2024 guest curators, Shay Erlich will be holding a residency for manual wheelchair dancers in July/August of 2024. This program will be an opportunity for wheelchair users interested in developing movement vocabulary for dance to develop and document wheelchair dance vocabulary for the broader contemporary dance community. 

Four (4) artists will be selected through this open call to work closely with Shay and artistic collaborators.

The residency will culminate in a virtual community sharing which will be open to the public. 

Residency details:
Curator: Shay Erlich
Rehearsal Director: kumari giles
Proposed start time: July 2024
Location: Downtown Toronto

Time commitment: 40 hours between the residency and community sharing. Currently envisioned at 4 hrs/day, 3 days/week for 3 weeks + sharing session. The exact schedule will be determined based on selected participant needs.

Other details: This call is being posted before many details have been finalized in order to ensure that the residency is able to best meet the needs of participants.

Who can apply?

  • Manual wheelchair dancers

  • Must be a resident of Canada

  • Some previous experience of dance training or performance

  • Multiply marginalized wheelchair dancers will be prioritized for this opportunity

Artist Compensation:

  • Each artist will receive $2000

  • The residency will accommodate any transportation, personal support worker, interpretation…etc. cost required to participate 

  • While the residency cannot support travel costs directly, all participants who require travel costs will be supported in applying for funding to cover these costs with Canada Council for the Arts and other funders.

  • Residency timelines have considered grant deadlines and notifications to ensure that participants are not expected to travel prior to the receipt of a grant to cover expenses


To apply, please send the required materials to pushmakers@gmail.com 

The Application will require:

  • A brief description of yourself and your experience with dance (200 words - 2 minute video)

  • 2 paragraphs (300 words- 3 minute video) describing how you will benefit from working in a group with other wheelchair dancers

  • A paragraph describing challenges you have faced or innovative solutions you have found in working with dancers who are not wheelchair users (200 words-2 minute video)

  • A 3-5 minute video of you dancing

If you need assistance with your application, please reach out to Dancemakers at artistic@dancemakers.org 

All applications will be reviewed by a committee of disabled dancers. 

If applicants prefer to submit via video application instead of a written application, it must be captioned. Video applications without captions will not be reviewed. 

[https://www.veed.io/ is a free service to automatically caption videos that allows for edits to increase accuracy!]

To learn more about Shay’s work visit https://www.shayerlich.com or Instagram @Shay.Erlich

We look forward to hearing from you!

Banner photo courtesy of Artscape / Image Description: Shay is strapped into their wheelchair. They look to the right. Their right arm is extended in front of them at eye-level. Their left arm is bent, framing their head. Both hands are flexed, palms facing forward as if gently pushing something away.