Contextualizing Disability Stories

Research focus

An audience engagement project that seeks to learn how we can support non-disabled audiences in seeing alternatives to a traditional overcoming disability narrative in disability-led storytelling.

As disabled artists, we have noticed that when we bring our work to juries and mainstream audiences, there is always an impulse to understand our narratives through the lens of “overcoming”. Even during times when we have deliberately made work that doesn’t have an overcoming arc we get feedback from audience members that we should reorganize our work to conform to their desire for a neat and tidy ending. We are curious about how different formats and support materials can help mainstream audiences see deeper and more nuanced narratives within disability storytelling to move beyond overcoming narratives.

About the researchers

Shay Erlich (they/them) is a disability justice world builder, artist, and disability educator whose work imagines a disability-centered world where disabled people are empowered to love themselves and live free from stigma, shame, and ableism. Shay’s artistic work sits at the intersection of storytelling, dance, and emergent technologies. Their dance films have been included as part of the Together! Disability Film Festival (2023), Dance Camera West (2024), the Contact Dance International Film Festival, the ReelAbilities Film Festival (Toronto), and the Chinook Festival. Shay is the Founder and Program Lead for Pushmakers a national initiative focused on excellence in manual wheelchair dance. They are also the Founder of Ready For Access, a disability experience firm that offers professional development, workshops, and co-design to create superbly accessible experiences for disabled people. They also currently serve as a disability arts curator with the National Creation Fund.

Paulina Drohomyrecky is an emerging producer and artist. After obtaining a PhD in immunology, they pivoted to dance, visual and textile art, and community arts facilitation. In addition, they have performed dance works with The Cyborg Circus Project. Most recently, they were a participant in The Bentway’s production of Walking:Holding, as well as the associated portrait series. Paulina also performed with Propeller Dance at Fall for Dance North in 2024. They are also a Rehearsal Director and Curriculum Co-Lead for Pushmakers.