Steering Dance into the Unknown

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Gladys Agulhas, a multi-award-winning independent dance artist, choreographer and dance facilitator who has pioneered inclusive dance practices in South Africa. Gladys shares her early love of dance and social work during apartheid and how an introduction to Adam Benjamin's " Table stories" created for Candoco Dance Company changed her trajectory. She describes how she learned from the dancers with disabilities themselves working in relative isolation in South Africa where disability carried stigma and basic access was not met. She created her own ways of working with blind and Deaf artists and people with other disabilities, as well as parents of children with disabilities and how they can find self-care through dance. She reflects on the state of inclusive dance in South Africa.

Gladys Agulhas has more than three decades of experience in Johannesburg thinking of the body as a visual, tactile, spatial, emotional and healing mechanism and auditory medium. Her integrated dance studies started with renowned teacher Adam Benjamin. She has a long history of involvement in dance in education and started The Foundation of Community Arts in Eldorado Park, a platform where community families can access and experience the excellence and transformative elements of the performance arts through active participation and international collaboration. Gladys is a member of various research networking groups that help marginalized community members, especially persons living with disabilities and senior citizens. She is the founder of former Agulhas Theatre Works – Inclusive Contemporary Dance Company which presented work locally and internationally.