A wonderful article by Emmaly Wiederholt talking about Freedom through Constraint. She discusses Bad Unkl Sista’s “First Breath- Last Breath”, AXIS Dance Company and Marc Brew’s “Full of Words”, and inkboat’s “The Crazy Cloud Collection.”
You can read the full article here:
Sonsheree Giles & Rodney Bell in “Full of Words” Photo by Andrea Basile
… With these thoughts in mind I saw AXIS Dance Company perform “Full of Words”, a piece choreographed by Marc Brew who himself is in a wheelchair. AXIS is well-known as a physically integrated dance company that features both able-bodied and disabled dancers, so I expected to have similar thoughts regarding increased intention through physical impediments. “Full of Words” divided the stage into three sections: a table with chairs, a bathtub, and a huge reclining armchair. And while it was indeed engaging to watch the dancers move through their limitations, what was far more powerful for me was the effect of the furniture on the choreography. It was another constraint, only this time in the form of a spatial impediment than a physical impediment. As the dancers maneuvered around the furniture, the dance became infinitely more engaging than had they been dancing in open space. The furniture gave the piece context and an impetus for movement.
AXIS Dance Company 