Abilities Dance Boston Presents “The Banned Ballet”

Inclusive Ballet Champions LGBTQ & Disability Rights

Family-Friendly Performances Live Streamed & In-person November 3 & 4, 2023

BOSTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2023 / Abilities Dance Boston, a nonprofit that uses dance to promote intersectional disability rights, presents the world premiere of "The Banned Ballet" streaming live and in-person from the Strand Theatre, 543 Columbia Road, Boston, Mass. 02125 on Friday, November 3 & Saturday November 4, 2023 at 8pm ET. Created by an all-BIPOC artistic director team (Ellice Patterson and Andrew Choe), this family-friendly performance is inspired by the rising number of book bans that's occurring across the U.S. and the impact that has on the intersections of queerness and disability.

With artistic direction and choreography by founder Ellice Patterson and original score by Andrew Choe, "The Banned Ballet" is a multidisciplinary work that includes animation and a literal book written by Patterson about the storyline. Led by narration and a frustrated librarian played by Leslie Taub, the audience is transported into this new world where there is appreciation for diverse voices that are creating their own stories. Tickets are available now. General admission for all shows is $35. Unlimited free tickets are available for financial equity.

"This is our impassioned response to book bans that are eliminating diverse identities from schools, public libraries, and more," said Ellice Patterson, Abilities Dance Boston Founder/Executive & Artistic Director and choreographer of "The Banned Ballet." "Everyone deserves the right to have their stories told truthfully. Our hope is that we can share how the intersecting forms of oppression, in this case LGBTQIA and deaf/disabled communities, hurt all of us. However, we can all band together to fight these injustices for us and the next generation."

Abilities Dance Boston seeks to disrupt antiquated ableist beliefs and disseminate the value of intersectional disability rights in Greater Boston and beyond. Its organizational goals are to build a better Boston by thinking of intersectional equity through a disabled lens. There is no such thing as a hierarchy of oppression, all forms of discrimination must be eliminated to work toward a truly equitable future.

To maximize accessibility, audio descriptions will be provided (for blind/low-vision audiences which will take a narrative form which complement the music) and captions and ASL will be provided (for deaf/hard of hearing audiences).

Media contact:

Karyn Martin
karyn@goldenthreadagency.com
617.462.0108

About Abilities Dance Boston

Abilities Dance Boston is a Boston-based nonprofit using dance and art overall as a tool to promote intersectional disability rights in the greater Boston area and beyond. This program is supported by a grant from the Brookline Commission for the Arts, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency. This program is supported by a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency. This program is supported by a grant from the Cambridge Arts Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a stage agency. Abilities Dance is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts through the New England Arts Resilience Fund, part of the United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with major funding from the federal CARES Act and the American Rescue Plan Act from the National Endowment for the Arts. https://www.abilitiesdanceboston.org/

SOURCE: Abilities Dance Incorporated