Corporeal lived experience of COVID-19: disability, dance and pandemic-triggered adaption

In March 2020 the world was plunged in to a new ‘normal’ when the Covid-19 pandemic triggered lockdowns across the world. With this came a radical change in working practices, including remote working from home and the closure of all performance venues, universities and rehearsal spaces. Many disabled artists and researchers advocated for using these new, imposed working practices as a catalyst for change, considering how ways of working, interacting and communicating could be more inclusive and prioritise accessibility. But with this comes consideration of how bodies negotiate new dance spaces, both digital and physical. This paper will consider the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and remote working, evaluating what can be learned from the lived experience of disabled dance artists in examining bodily informed ambitions for increased inclusivity and accessibility. Negotiating home spaces which became performance and teaching venues, blurring the public and the private for many dance artists, heightened our awareness of bodily navigation through space. Drawing on research emerging from interviews with disabled dance artists in the UK, necessitated adaption and adaptive skills will be explored. This paper will argue that disabled dance artists’ corporeal lived experience offers vital insight into how inclusive ways of working could better transform the experience of dance participation for all, as assumed ‘normality’ returns post-lockdown.