From the New York Times, with video:

A new modern dance company that calls itself Gimp is confronting public stereotypes about disability. Many of its members have undeveloped or amputated limbs, or bodies that defy common expectations.

Dancer Catherine Long enjoys the way the dance production makes audiences reexamine what they think they know about disability. She was born without hip sockets, kneecaps or a left arm.

“When I put myself out there on stage, I’m inviting people to look at me and I’m controlling the looking,” she says, “Whereas when I’m in the street I’m not inviting people to look at me but they do anyway.

“So this puts me in a bit more of a controlled situation, where I might then be trying to encourage people to look at themselves, and look at the way they look at different bodies, and their own body.”

The company is performing this week in New York.

See also earlier post: Go ahead and stare

(Photo from New York Times video)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 2:07 pm and is filed under arts/music, body image, limb loss, NOT2BEMISSED, personal stories, stereotypes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.