On a recent Friday evening, the City of Eugene put on a performance showcase at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion to kickoff National Dance Week.
Dancers from a variety of genres and groups, like the University of Oregon’s Native American Student Union, Eugene Ballet Academy, and Healthy Moves, performed in front of a crowd of around a 100 people.
One group, DanceAbility International, had a performance where four dancers did a call and response routine around another dancer, Kelcie Laube.
Laube, who has cerebral palsy, directed the flow of her fellow dancers.
Alito Alessi, the executive director of DanceAbility International, said this was intentional. He wanted the dance to work around Laube’s movements.
“I wanted to do a group piece where she has the most influence on everyone else in the piece,” said Alessi. “So, we made her a conductor. With her arms, and with the movement of her body, she conducts a whole choreography.”
DanceAbility International is a nonprofit centered around a dance method called Danceability. It’s an inclusive method that works with dancers of all abilities and dancing levels. It was founded in 1987 in Eugene by Alessi himself.
“I was a contemporary dancer, very successful but unhappy,” said Alessi. “And the philosophy of the contemporary dance world at the time was, ‘Everybody could dance,’ but nobody was doing anything about it. They just said it.”
Alessi decided to put the philosophy to the test by creating an open-for-all workshop in Eugene. From there, he said, DanceAbility International organized and grew to teach more than 800 teachers in more than 40 countries. In each class, the dance technique focuses on finding a common ground between all dancers.
“The method is, to find the common denominator, that is, 'What is it that every person in this room can do?’” said Alessi. “The method grew out of that system of trying to find the common denominator.”
For Laube, that common denominator allowed for a more freeing dance. Before DanceAbility, Laube did ballet, where everything was a calculated move.
“Doing mainly ballet opened up a space where I didn't have to worry about technicality and movement,” explained Laube. “DanceAbility opened that door.”
Laube joined DanceAbility almost 10 years ago and is now in her late 20s. She is a certified DanceAbility instructor and handles DanceAbility International’s social media.
“When I came to DanceAbility training, I had literally just graduated high school a week before,” said Laube. “So it is very cool how far I've come in my training.”
Since every routine in DanceAbility takes stock of who is in the room and works around their capabilities, the routines are able to change and be as diverse as the dancers themselves. The dance Laube performed at the pavilion incorporates a recent development in her mobility.
“The beginning is cool, because it came from the recent found ability I have to stand up from the floor,” said Laube. “For the longest time I was not able to get up by myself. Later on, I did physical therapy, and I learned a more effective way to stand up.”
'The pieces really come out of our bodies'
For Laube’s friend and coworker, Maria Antonieta Alvarez Prieto, the method has been an exciting way of learning how to move. Alvarez Prieto joined DanceAbility in 2016 and also comes from a ballet background.
“Coming from a background of ballet there was, it's like all about fighting gravity. You're kind of always wanting to elevate your center and up up up,” said Alvarez Prieto. “For me, going into contact improv, and finding the surrender to the gravity, and allowing gravity to hold you and trust the floor. The contact you make with people and dancers, that was a challenge.”
Alvarez Prieto says that the method and its philosophy centers around exploring the different possibilities the dancers can bring to the routine.
“We all go somewhere together and we all make the pieces really come out of our bodies,” said Alvarez Prieto. “We have a common ground.”
Back at the pavilion, DanceAbility’s call and response routine has evolved into a combined routine where all the dancers are now moving as a group. Alessi explains that this was always meant to be the conclusion.
“The whole thing happens around her and towards the end, she's totally involved,” said Alessi. “In making the ending, for me, that's really beautiful because it's very simple movement and very slow but transmits a resonance of unity between the people of difference.”
DanceAbility will offer a 10-week intensive workshop at the Hilyard Community Center in September.
