Be a Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival Team Volunteer!

The Disability Art and Culture Project is seeking volunteers to join our Festival Team! The fifth Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival will take place April 20-28 and features a panel discussion on The Power of Art to Cultivate Social Change, a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop on the Intersection of Race and Disability, a Dance Intensive, and two nights of Festival Performances headlined by nationally recognized African American and Deaf choreographer and dancer Antoine D. Hunter, founder of the Urban Jazz Dance Company.

DPAC Festival Team Volunteer Roles:

• Pre-Festival Marketing Volunteer - Posters
• Pre-Festival Marketing Volunteer - Sponsorships
• Festival Greeter Volunteer • Festival Admissions Volunteer
• Festival Set Up/Clean Up Volunteer
• Festival Stage Hand Volunteer
• Festival Access Volunteer
• Post-Festival Video Editor Volunteer

DPAC Festival Team Volunteer Details:

Pre-Festival Volunteer Positions: Marketing - Poster Distributors (several), Marketing - Sponsorships Coordinator (1-2)

Panel Discussion: The Power of Art to Cultivate Social Change
Volunteer Times: 6:30pm to 9:30pm Volunteer Positions: Greeters (2), Admissions (1), Setup/Clean Up (2)
April 20, 7-9pm
Project Grow, 2156 N Williams, Portland, OR 97227
Cost: $5-10 sliding scale / free for volunteers.

Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop: The Intersection of Race & Disability
Volunteer Times: 5:30pm to 10pm Volunteer Positions: Greeters (2), Admissions (1), Setup/Clean Up (2)
April 22, 6:30-9:30pm
Project Grow, 2156 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97227
Cost: $5-10 sliding scale / free for volunteers.

Dance Intensive with Antoine D. Hunter
Volunteer Times: Pre-Festival Poster Distribution the week of April 9, then attend Dance Intensive, Rehearsals, and Performances, details below
Volunteer Positions: Poster Distributors
--Intensive:
April 22, 12pm to 5 pm
; April 23, 12pm to 2:30pm
; April 24, 6pm to 10 pm
--Tech Rehearsal: April 25, 6pm to 10pm --Dress Rehearsal: April 26, 6pm to 10pm
--Performances: April 27 and 28, 7pm to 9pm
Zoomtopia, 810 S.E. Belmont, Portland, OR 97214
Cost: $40 total / free for volunteers who distribute 25 posters.

Tech and Dress Rehearsals plus Festival Performances
Volunteer Times: 6pm to 10 pm for ALL four nights, April 25, 26, 27, and 28
Volunteer Positions: Stage Hands - must be at all 4 days, Tech, Dress, and Evening Performances (3), Greeter (1), Setup/Clean Up (2)
Tech and Dress Rehearsals: April 25 & 26, 6pm to 10pm Festival Performances: April 27 & 28, Volunteers - 6pm to 10pm, Showtimes - 7pm to 9pm
Location: Zoomtopia Dance Studio, 810 S.E. Belmont
Cost: $10 (same show both nights) / free for volunteers.

Festival Performances
Volunteer Times: April 27, 6pm to 10pm and April 28, 6pm to 10pm
Volunteer Positions: Access Volunteers (2), Lobby Helpers (3), Greeters (3), Admissions (2), Setup/Clean Up (3)
April 27 & 28, 7pm to 9pm
Zoomtopia Dance Studio, 810 S.E. Belmont, Portland, OR 97214
Cost: $10 (same show both nights) / free for volunteers.

Post-Festival Volunteer Position: Video Editor to create short videos with text from festival footage (1)

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Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival 5 is coming soon April 20-28! A project of Disability Art and Culture Project, this year’s festival will be taking place at Project Grow and Zoomtopia. Don’t miss two nights of Performances and a Dance Intensive with guest artist Antoine D. Hunter, a panel discussion on The Power of Art to Cultivate Social Change, and a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop on the Intersection of Race and Disability. Registration for the Dance Intensive is still open, and we are also looking for volunteers to join the Festival Team in exchange for admission to events including the intensive. See more about the festival below. Whether you’re a performer, an artist, an activist, or someone who can’t wait to be in the audience, we hope to meet you there!

EVENT DETAILS:

Panel Discussion: The Power of Art to Cultivate Social Change
Panelists: Andres Guerrero of Project Grow, Nim Xuto of Colored Pencils, Mizu Desierto of Water in the Desert/The Headwaters Theater, Curtis Walker of Impetus Arts, and Rupert Kinard.
Moderator: Kathy Coleman of Disability Art and Culture Project
Friday, April 20, 7-9pm
Project Grow, 2156 N Williams
Cost: $5-$10 Sliding scale

In these difficult economic times, art is devalued, underfunded and not deemed as important. Yet, as artists we influence individuals in ways that educate and create long and lasting change in our communities. We bring people together to experience and challenge the condition of our world. The panel will feature artists and arts organizations that have a social justice emphasis embedded in their creative work. We understand that individual healing is critical and the arts as therapy are important; however, this is not the focus of this panel. Our focus is on using the arts in social movements to create opportunities for dialogue, performance and activism.

Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop: The Intersection of Race and Disability
Facilitator: Sandra Hernandez PhD, THE-TREE Institute
Sunday, April 22, 6:30-9:30pm
Project Grow, 2156 N Williams
Cost: $5-$10 Sliding scale

At this workshop facilitated by Sandra Hernandez of THE-TREE Institute, we will explore the intersections of race and disability utilizing Theatre of the Oppressed. Join us to learn about how our multiple identities inform the ways that we move through the world, and the ways that we work for a just and interdependent society. We will examine white supremacy in disability communities, and discuss the ways that Disabled people are, and are not, included in social justice movements and dialogue around culture—and we’ll talk about the ways that we can use the arts to tell our stories, engage people on our terms, honor each other’s differences and bring people together in community and solidarity.

Creating Dance Stories: Dance Intensive with Antoine D. Hunter
Registration deadline April 18!
Intensive:April 22, 12pm to 5 pm; April 23, 12pm to 2:30pm; April 24, 6pm to 10 pm
Tech Rehearsal: April 25, 6pm to 10pm
Dress Rehearsal: April 26, 6pm to 10pm
Performances: April 27 and 28, 7pm to 9pm
Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont
Cost: $40 or work trade distributing 25 festival posters
Contact Kathy at kafia2008 [at] yahoo.com or 503-238-0723 to set up the details.

Let’s celebrate dance! What does your body want to communicate? How do you dance “I am smart and strong”? How do you dance to show that you’re sad? Let your body dance its story. What movement says you feel alive, what movement tells us you’re gonna cry? Explore new things and old, open up to the spirit and soul of dance. This intensive is for all.

If you are shy or a professional, this intensive is for you. If you think you can’t dance or if you love dancing, this intensive is for you.

Come explore and learn and move and let the movement move you – there will be you in every dance, and in dance there will be everything. A dance will be created from the intensive to perform at the festival.

Festival Performance
Friday, April 27 and Saturday, 28, 7-9pm
Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont St., Portland, OR
Cost: $10 (same show both nights).

Antoine D. Hunter is the 2012 guest artist for the fifth Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival. He is an African American Deaf and Hard of Hearing Choreographer, dancer, actor and poet. Hunter is the founder and director of Urban Jazz Dance Company (**http://urbanjazzdance.com**) in Oakland, California. Hunter states, “We call it Urban Jazz because we believe our soul is jazz and our language is urban. In poetic terms, Urban is RAW -gritty-edgy-tough-uncut-torn unevenly, fresh with unexpected movement, visible impactable sound from the dancers body. We dance in any way we can express ourselves: ballet, jazz, African, hip-hop, Praise, Sign Language, modern and so much more.” For Hunter, art is an essential element of self-discovery. “Dancing is a way to express oneself, a way to communicate,” he said. “As a person, who is Deaf, I have found dance is a way to communicate with both the hearing and the Deaf world.”

Kathy Coleman, the festival’s Artistic Director, helped to create the Disability Art and Culture Project in 2005 to give individuals with disabilities a high-quality, semiprofessional venue in which to explore “the uniqueness of different minds and bodies.” This year’s festival brings together performers from across the Portland-metro area. William L. Alton uses poetry and stories to reduce the stigma of mental illness and disability. Nathan H.G., a ballet and Butoh dancer, will perform “Stanley,” a channeling of his late brother who had cerebral palsy. Alexis Jewel and Max McDonnell will bring a video highlighting “the many ways our hearts keep us alive.” Jewel and Tiffani King offer a dance piece about “how we are different but also strong disabled women.” Also appearing is Inclusive Arts Vibe, Coleman’s dance company for teens and young adults with disabilities.

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VOLUNTEERING:

Would you like to be a part of the Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival 5 by volunteering on the Festival Team? There are lots of ways you can get involved before, during, and after the festival! Volunteer roles and details are at “Be a Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival Team Volunteer!”.

You can also download a pdf of the Festival Poster here to share with friends.

Contact Aireen, the festival volunteer coordinator, at disabilityartculture [at] gmail.com or call 503-853-0001 to get involved. Festival Team Volunteers receive free admission to the event you volunteer for and many many thanks for supporting Portland’s Disability Pride Art and Culture Festival!!

ACCESSIBILITY:

All events will be wheelchair accessible with accessible restrooms, and will be ASL interpreted. There are both gendered and gender-neutral restrooms at Zoomtopia. There will be large print and electronic versions of printed handouts. Performances will be audio-described. At the workshop and panel discussion we will designate areas for participants to take a quiet moment for themselves. There are low-flicker fluorescent lights at all venues. All events are accessible by public transit. We will have some sturdy armless folding chairs at each event. The temperature at Zoomtopia will be warmer than standard room temperature, so dress accordingly; we will also have a limited number of fans available for people with heat sensitivity.

We request that everyone refrain from using scented products before these events so that they are accessible to people with chemical and fragrance sensitivities; we cannot guarantee a 100% scent free environment, as the restrooms have scented soaps and will have been cleaned with scented products.

We ask that people raise their hands instead of clapping at the end of performances.

Accessibility, as an integral part of the work of social justice, is a process that requires communication and work. We hope you’ll help us build accessible, inclusive community at the Disability Pride Arts and Culture Festival.

Contact Sarah, the festival accessibility coordinator, at sarah.lynn.doherty [at] gmail.com or 609-775-8001 to let us know how we can make these events accessible for you.

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MANY THANKS to all of DACP’s funders, donors, supporters, volunteers, and community!!

ABOUT DISABILITY ART AND CULTURE PROJECT The mission of the Disability Art and Culture Project (DACP) is to further the artistic expression of people with both hidden and visible disabilities. We view disability as a natural and valuable variation of the human form. We believe affirmative disability identity is intertwined with racial, gender, social, and economic justice. DACP accomplishes this mission by supporting the creative expression of people with disabilities. DACP utilizes the performing arts as a method of examining disability in relation to society. DACP also supports established and emerging artists, as well as the community at large, in developing knowledge and expression of disability culture and pride.

All contributions to DACP are tax deductible under the nonprofit organization, Oregon Cultural Access.

In solidarity, DACP Organizing Committee Kathy, Jane, Ann, Cheryl, Sarah, and Aireen

DACP on Facebook http://dacphome.org/

“A festival is a celebration; it is an opportunity to express the glad tiding that I still live and can still do whatever it is that I do.”