Dancing with Disabilities

Gimp. It’s a word we’re not supposed to even think about, let alone say out loud. Gimp: as in, a lame person, or a halting walk. We’re also taught from an early age not to stare at people who walk with a gimp, or who are disabled or differently formed. This weekend, a modern-dance performance invites you to do both: think about the word gimp. And stare.

Gimp is the title of a series of works performed by able-bodied dancers alongside dancers with underdeveloped or amputated limbs and other physical disabilities. It was choreographed by Heidi Latsky, once a celebrated principal dancer for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company who is currently director of the Heidi Latsky Dance Company. She joins Word of Mouth on the line from New York. We're also joined by Lawrence Carter-Long, a performer in Gimp, a producer on WBAI’s largest minority radio show, and the Director of Advocacy at the Disabilities Network of New York City.

Gimp will show at The Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston on April 24-25. An aerial performance by Jennifer Bricker, a dancer born without legs, and dancer Nathan Crawford will preview works from Gimp on rigging set up outside the ICA on the Boston Harbor as a prologue to this weekend’s shows.

Watch a preview for Gimp:

(Photo courtesy Heidi Latsky Dance Company)