Unlimited Access is a Europe-wide programme designed to support best practice in the commissioning, creation, dissemination and programming of performing arts by disabled artists.
Building on the success of Unlimited, a festival in celebration of the London 2012 Paralympic Games which showcased new works by deaf and disabled artists, we're pleased to announce the launch of Unlimited Access. This ambitious new programme will be delivered in collaboration with partners VoÁrte (Portugal), the Onassis Cultural Centre (Greece) and the Croatian Institute for Movement and Dance (Croatia).
With funding from the European Union Culture Programme until June 2015, Unlimited Access aims to promote inclusion and diversity in the performing arts and the exchange of best practice between European arts organisations.
The project will:
- increase and improve transnational mobility of deaf and disabled artists in Europe and support the presentation of excellent ground-breaking performance
- challenge the ways deaf and disabled artists are viewed within wider European arts sectors and support artists to challenge and develop their own practice
- enhance audience engagement and appreciation of disability arts
- develop cultural leadership opportunities for deaf and disabled artists across Europe.
Check the official Unlimited Access Facebook page for details of forthcoming events and activities.
International Dance Festival
In February 2015, Athens will see dance ... differently! The International Dance Festival Unlimited Access, which is to be staged at the Onassis Cultural Centre as the culmination of the European programme of the same name, is Greece’s first international dance festival for people both with and without disabilities and aims to rethink the approach taken to disabled people in the cultural sphere.
Dance companies from Greece and abroad with and without disabilities worked with the body, experimented with movement and came up with works to be performed on stage, showing that dance really is for everyone!
Programme
- Thursday 26 February 2015 | Upper Stage
20.30: Evolution by the choreographer and dancer Claire Cunningham (UK)
22.00: Magnolia (in Defiance) by IMRC (Integrated Movement Research Collective), choreographed by Iva Nerina Sibila (Croatia) - Friday 27 February 2015 | Main Stage
20.30: A performance staged by the OCC dance companies, featuring people both with and without disabilities, as well as dance professionals and people whose first venture into dance this was. The works were choreographed by Iris Karagian, Maria Koliopoulou and Menti Mega. - Saturday 28 February 2015 | Upper Stage
20.30: Two for C by the Candocο Dance Company, choreographed by Javier de Frutos (UK)
21.30: Edge by the CiM Company (Companhia Integrada Multidisciplinar), choreographed by Ana Rita Barata (Portugal) - Sunday 1 March 2015 | Main Stage
20.30: Simulante Bande by the VerTe Dance company, choreographed by Veronika Kotlíková and Tereza Ondrová (Czech Republic)
| When | 26 February–1 March 2015 |
| Where | Onassis Cultural Centre 107–109 Syngrou Avenue 117 45 Athens |
For further information, please contact the Onassis Cultural Centre by telephone on 213 017 8002 or by email at education@sgt.gr.
Panel Discussion
What are the challenges posed by the diversity of the body to choreographers and dancers? How are the established narratives changing in such a context ? What is dancing? And who is a dancer? How far will we have to rethink the terms we use to analyse and interpret performing arts works?
Before the actual closing of the 2014–15 programme with the Unlimited Access international dance festival in February 2015, the Onassis Cultural Centre is holding another public debate, which will focus on issues of aesthetics and creative practice.
Speakers:
- Jürg Koch: Freelance dance artist
- Henrique Amoedo: Artistic Director of Associação dos Amigos da Arte Inclusiva – Dançando com a Diferença and Grupo Dançando com a Diferença
- Maria Koliopoulou: Choreographer
- Jiorgos Christakis: Choreographer, dancer, DAGIPOLI dance company founder
Chair:
- Stergiani Tsintziloni: dance theorist
Simultaneous interpretation into Greek as well as into Greek sign language will be provided.
Admission is free.
| When | Wednesday 10 December 2014, 19.00–21.00 |
| Where | Onassis Cultural Centre (Upper Stage) 107–109 Syngrou Avenue 117 45 Athens |
For further information, please contact the Onassis Cultural Centre by telephone on 213 017 8002 or by email at education@sgt.gr.
Unlimited Access in Arts and Culture: Workshop and Panel Discussion
As part of the Unlimited Access programme, we're organising a one-day event dedicated to issues of access to arts and culture for people with disabilities.
The event consists of two activities:
- A Workshop for managers of cultural organisations, independent artistic groups, marketing professionals etc. which aims to improve communication with people with disabilities. The workshop is being organised in co-operation with the Flip team, Scotland, and it will be held in English.
- A Panel Discussion on access issues with speakers from Greece and abroad, which will focus both on the issues of physical access as well as the necessary institutional changes that will enable and encourage participation in arts and culture by people with disabilities.
| When | Tuesday 3 June 2014 Workshop: 11.00–14.00 Panel Discussion: 17.00–21.00 |
| Where | Onassis Cultural Centre 107–109 Syngrou Avenue 117 45 Athens |
For further information, please contact the Onassis Cultural Centre by telephone on 213 017 8002 or by email at education@sgt.gr.
Educational Programme and Contemporary Dance Workshops
As part of Unlimited Access, we're organising a series of educational programmes and contemporary dance workshops involving people with and without disabilities from Greece and abroad.
From January to May 2014 we will be conducting three different workshop series aimed at adults with and without disabilities, who may have some experience of dance or very little at all, but who all share the same enthusiasm for physical expression.
Download the programme (PDF, 146 kb).
| When | 17 January–19 May 2014 (Fridays, Saturdays & Mondays, 17.30–19.30) |
| Where | Onassis Cultural Centre 107–109 Syngrou Avenue 117 45 Athens |
For further information, please contact the Onassis Cultural Centre by telephone on 213 017 8002 or by email at education@sgt.gr.
Unlimited Access Launch Event
In partnership with the Onassis Cultural Centre, we're pleased to invite you to the launch event of the Unlimited Access programme and take part in a series of experiential workshops focusing on contemporary dance, which will take place on the same day.
The workshops are aimed at adults with and without disabilities, who may be experienced dancers or new to dancing, but who all have a passion for physical expression and would like a foretaste of the three rounds of workshops scheduled to take place between January and May 2014.
Download the programme (PDF, 409 kb).
The workshops are free of charge and no advance booking is required.
| When | 11 December 2013, 17.30–20.00 |
| Where | Onassis Cultural Centre 107–109 Syngrou Avenue 117 45 Athens |
For further information, please contact the Onassis Cultural Centre by telephone on 213 017 8002 or by email at education@sgt.gr.
Information
For further information about the programme, please contact Maria Papaioannou:
| Maria.Papaioannou@britishcouncil.gr | |
| Telephone | +30 210 369 2336 |