In The News
MidDay Fix with Patrick Elwood
DisFest
“This is who I am, and that is ok. Disabled isn't a bad word, it's a descriptor”
-Ladonna Freidheim
Link to Watch (5:36 min)
DisFest to Celebrate Performers with Disabilities
“Alana Wallace taught me to dance in my wheelchair and that brought this joy of movement and freedom that I had not felt in a long time,”
-Ladonna Freidheim
DisFest comes to the Chicago Cultural Center
...imagine a future where "disabled people can do cool weird shit without having to ask... there is really a cool opportunity within DisFest."
-Andy Slater
Evening News
Disability Pride Month Special Event
“DisFest is a celebration of lives-well-lived with disability.”
-Ladonna Freidheim
Link to Watch (3:32 min)
Chicago's Celebration of Disabled Art & Performance
“As a disabled artist and writer myself, I must admit I’m not sure I’ve ever been in a room with so many different(ly) disabled individuals, and certainly never in one filled with so much joy. It was quite a moving experience to see disabled narratives, feelings, stories, and bodies on full display in an authentic manner. ”
-Sidne K Gard
Open Doors
"...introducing the larger public to an unsung yet thriving body of work... "If you open your doors and let us in, here’s (some of) what we can contribute.”"
-Ladonna Freidheim
WBEZ CHICAGO
Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons
What does accessibility mean in the world of dance?
“If you don’t change people’s minds and hearts, they build ramps that don’t lead to an accessible doorway.”
-Ladonna Freidheim
Link to Listen (17 min)
CHICAGO READER
CounterBalance Brings
Accessibility To Dance
“I believe this (work) will bring about greater understanding in society of anyone who’s different.”
-Ladonna Freidheim
"...nice when people with disabilities are not treated as an inconvenience...as though we should be grateful that we get to enter...through the back alley (no signage of course) or when staff finally show up to unlock the lift after the performance began."
-Ladonna Freidheim
Disability Minute
“...create an environment where people feel like it is ok to be disabled...that is something (that is) lacking in the world.”
-Ladonna Freidheim
Link to Listen (1 min)
SeeChicagoDance Honors Chicago's Dance Community
“...this award represents progress towards society accepting us as equals”
-Ladonna Freidheim
Global Awareness Day
"...uplift and celebrate ... including performers with disabilities on our stages and in our audiences...I am excited for all of us to see (this) performance by ReinventAbility "
-ChicagoMayor Lori Lightfoot
Mayor begins at 17:00, ReinventAbility at 54:30
