creative forces

Blog 38…October, 2014

Early in my life as a physiotherapist, I worked with children with a variety of physical disabilities. It was the beginning of a growing movement, led in many cases by the people directly involved, to make room for those amongst us who have difficulty with curbs, stairs and heavy doors. So, architectural accessibility became a common concept and the law in many areas.  People who are less than fully mobile are now able to enter most schools, theatres, public buildings and transportation. The effect of these moves over the past five decades means that we're accustomed to seeing people who use a variety of aids to get around and we take it for granted that they pursue many of the same activities as we do, although with some difficulty. 

There have also been creative initiatives both large and small, institutional and personal to develop insight into the world of those of us who are disabled in some way…and we're all less than Olympic performers in many areas, especially as we age. 

In the film Margarita With a Straw, director Shonali Bose introduces Laila, a young woman in Delhi who faces many issues because of her athetoid cerebral palsy. Her curiousity about life in general and her sexuality in particular lead her to study in New York where she explores both with a young woman she meets at an Occupy demonstration. Khanum is a blind activist, half Pakistani, half Bangladeshi. It’s a touching story, hitting on four delicate topics at once without being preachy. It bothered me a bit when I heard that the actress who plays Laila is not disabled, but she’s very effective and the film’s message is clear…and that’s why they call it acting.  

Closer to home, a young Toronto couple – he’s disabled, she’s able-bodied – are combating the stigma about their relationship while teaching others about sex and love.  As it says on the mural behind them...
                           Welcome to Paradise.

They kicked off the opening of their Rose Centre for Love, Sex and Disability with a fashion show at Buddies in Bad Times recently…called I’m Sexy and I Know It., featuring models both with and without disabilities.

Dancer/choreographer Michelle Silagy has decided to use dance with different bodies as the topic for her MFA thesis. Her interest in the notion that dance isn’t exclusively done with the lower limbs began when she was doing some work in a hospital and was unexpectedly presented with a dance class of patients in wheelchairs.

The more we stretch our ideas about what’s acceptable for our body size, shape and capabilities, the more comfortable we’ll all be with ourselves living together on our planet.  And we need all the comfort we can get these days.