3) What is the performance, policy, and funding landscape within the inclusive practice context? How has this changed over the last 10 years and how will you adapt to future developments?

Introduction:
10 years ago, the UK Government introduced The Equality Act 2010. The aim of this state policy was to combine several pieces of legislation that were covering discrimination together and embolden and make the law that legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society easier to understand. It also arguably strengthened people’s protection in some situations. Over the course of the last decade, the inclusive arts practice context has greatly benefitted from the clarity and transparency this law has offered and a great swathe of changes have been implemented since its instigation. In this blog post I will explore the performance, policy and funding landscape within the inclusive practice context and throughout, I will comment on how it has changed. I will suggest some offerings that could help the context continue to adapt and thrive sustainably.

Performance:
I will share my knowledge of choreographer Caroline Bowditch who was Scottish Dance Theatre’s Dance Agent for Change in the early 2010’s who I believe set a precedent for others to follow in the dissemination of a sustainable, inclusive performative culture. One of the main impacts was her catalytic imprint on Dance Education - engaging, informing and encouraging staff and students in the field to participate in new ways of thinking about inclusive professional practice. In a previous life, I was a collaborator of Caroline’s for a number of years composing music for many of her dance and performance projects and was always supremely taken aback by the welcoming, safe but charged environment she was able to muster and implement during creative processes. Here is an example of one of her works for babies called “Snigel and Friends” - a music and dance performance for under ones about a curious snail looking for bubbles:

This is one of extremely few performances made for babies that features disabled bodies in the performance space. In other contexts, for instance the recent Scottish Election saw Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy become the first wheelchair user elected to Holyrood, continuing to increase the visibility of non-normative bodies in every space. She speaks about why this shouldn’t be a surprise in 2021:

And it shouldn't. That's one of the reasons why I have always been involved in politics. It's why I'm an activist. It's why I believe in equality and human rights. I will speak up for disabled people's human rights.
(Duncan-Glancy, P. 2021).

This makes me think about how much concepts of Universal Design should and could be celebrated far more within the context to ensure inclusive thinking. The original concept of universal design was created by architect and industrial designer, and wheelchair user, Ronald Mace and its principles were pioneered in dance and performance by Jürg Koch at the University of Washington, Seattle. Instead of a disability specific approach of ‘adapting’ movement to suit individuals, this approach allows everyone to work with the same principles and use them in a way that works for them and allows them to push themselves. These include the following:

7 Principles of Universal Design.

7 Principles of Universal Design.

This chimes well with former Paragon participant Bernie Hunter, who blogged about these sentiments recently through Cerebral Palsy Scotland and mentioned:

I never thought that I would be a dancer due to having Cerebral Palsy with my movements and being in a wheelchair but anything is possible. Everyone was welcomed into the workshop, it was very inclusive- the group didn’t see disability and as a teenager, that really helped me.(Hunter, B. 2021).

This conscious “un-seeing” of the limitations and prejudices of disability is something that Paragon has been implementing for many years - focusing on people’s own abilities as a musician first. This sentiment was captured by a Social Value Lab observer during an impact report, who reflected the following:

Screenshot 2021-05-11 at 16.05.10.png

This equal and inclusive mindset illuminated by the observer was also showcased in Paragon’s 2017 promotional video below which highlights the important sustainable and developmental outcomes that are sought. From confidence to self-determination, from socialisation to learning new skills in a safe and fun environment, the video manifests the qualities of this approach:

The notion of a “positive influence” throughout peoples life journeys is something that I find really interesting. Following Creative Scotland’s 2017 Arts and Diversity Survey, their conclusions are relatively striking with regards to people who identify as disabled who are seeking to develop a career in the arts sector:

The findings of this report indicate that career progression in the arts is far from a level playing field. Some groups face real and significant barriers to career progression in the sector… Lack of connections, social structures and networks also feature highly as a barrier with many mentioning the importance of informal networks in securing work or getting noticed.
(Creative Scotland, 2017).

Paragon aims to address this barrier within their mentoring programme “Horizons” which is funded by The Robertson Trust. People with additional support needs face many barriers to pursuing their aspirations, accessing training and education opportunities and chiefly gaining paid employment, despite the tone of the legislation introduced in 2010. Paragon creates pathways for people to pursue a fulfilling life in the arts, supporting people on a one to one basis to identify and work towards their creative ambitions. We work with many people who have experienced severe discrimination, inequity and trauma and create an environment that is free from discrimination, where people can explore and express their emotions and experiences through creativity. We have seen the transformative effect music and the arts has on people’s self-confidence, motivation and overall wellbeing. Paragon’s work on poverty and trauma is preventative in that we aim to create improved pathways, future opportunities and supportive environments in which people can flourish.

As of late 2020, this Act is the prominent piece of legislature that Creative Scotland implore organisations to embed within their practices sector wide. In their White Paper titled Seven Inclusive Principles for Arts & Cultural Organisations their first point reads:

All organisational activities must comply with the requirements of The Equality Act (2010) and make reasonable adjustments to operating practice that ensure disabled people are not unlawfully discriminated against.
(Creative Scotland, 2020).

Clearly, it is feasible to conclude that a lot of work still needs to be done to continue to break down the barriers that still exist for people who identify as having a disability or an additional support need.

Funding Landscape and its changes:

Post London 2012 Olympics, the spotlight on disabled athletes and sports personnel became more prevalent as the Paralympic Games especially gave a greater focus to the context. (It did, however, take the public a bit of time to leave behind patronising terminologies and behaviours that can be imposed upon the context, treating disabled people as objects of inspiration rather than people). Though, one of the things to come about from the Games’ success was the Unlimited funding scheme. Unlimited was created as part of the Cultural Olympiad linked to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, with involvement from all of the UK arts councils and the British Council. According to their website, they share that:

Since 2013, Unlimited has awarded more than £4.7 million to over 400 ambitious disabled artists and companies, through commissions, awards and support, which have been seen by or engaged with more than 3.8 million people globally and online, making it the largest supporter of disabled artists worldwide.
(Unlimited, 2021).

This is a really bold claim - “the largest supporter of disabled artists worldwide.” How does this affect those at grassroots level, though? Many people who engage with Paragon are disenfranchised and of low income and don’t have the equipment, technology or resources to take part online and people involved in Paragon’s programmes have had their statutory support reduced during the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning they do not have sufficient care support hours to engage with the programmes they would like to. I think that funders in the future like Unlimited will need to provide extra support directly for young people with additional support needs at transitions age to plan their next steps and understand what opportunities are available to them in the arts.

Offers for the future:

I would like to see far less tokenistic gestures from mainstream educational organisations and arts companies that prop up their own in the name of inclusion and accessibility, to pave the way for better and more frequent opportunities for young people who identify as disabled to have an equitable and resilient platform for their work to be seen, shared, promoted, critiqued and engaged with. I would like to advocate for the inclusion of Universal Design principles far more readily within our institutions and for a rebranding of the words “quality” and “excellence” so that they are able to move away from connotations of prestige and towards denotations of difference, celebrating everyone’s own unique ideas. I would suggest:

  1. More inclusive approaches to music and dance in secondary and higher education that embraces difference, and gives opportunities to those underrepresented in the arts to gain entry to the arts world.

  2. An arts sector which is more diverse and enriched by the experiences and creative contributions of people from different backgrounds.

  3. More people with additional support needs in key roles in the arts world and in the public eye, including those from the D/deaf community, disabled people, and neurodiverse people.

  4. More influence from people in these communities leading to less ableist thinking in the arts world.

To conclude this blog post, I would like to offer two videos that demonstrate how we can continue to develop the context for the future. The first is a selection of clips taken from different moments of inclusive practice training I facilitated with a participant called Ruairidh which offers an enquiry lens into how we can sustain the culture through sharing information in a holistic manner:

The second offer is the type of performance that I would urge us to make even more visible. This is a piece from Paragon participant Eilidh McGrath. I collaborated with her and her Paragon Horizons Mentor Alex McCabe to edit the soundtrack to her dance performance which criticises the SQA and their culture of exclusivity:

The final offer would be the importance of adapting and developing our practices to bring about much more awareness towards our mental wellbeing. A colleague of mine Dr Gameli Tordzro speaks below about the benefits that musical connection can bring with regards to the Mindful Drumming workshop that we facilitate.

References: