Kinetic Light

Four otherworldly figures spin: long silver strands waterfall down from flat circular silver ‘hats,’ shimmering, swinging, swirling, swimming. Slight pops of bright color plus wheels and feet emerge between and underneath the silver strands, hinting at the performers within. Photo Cherylynn Tsushima

VR: territory

Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson soar in their wheelchairs in front of a bright green screen with extended arms and one hand gripping a white barbed wire. Alice leans inward above Laurel; Laurel flies below, almost upside down, legs and wheels tucked above their torso and reaching to embrace Alice. Alice is a multiracial Black woman with short bright orange curly hair and coffee-colored skin; Laurel is a white person with pale skin and cropped peacock blue hair. They wear copper bodysuits overlaid with a fine haze of black mesh, delicate filigree headpieces of copper, brass, and pearl, and beaded cuffs. Photo Cherylnn Tsushima

territory (2024) Revel in Your Body (2019) One + One Make Three (2021)

“There’s a strength, precision and grace that’s common of any professional dance performance. But then there’s something else: an honesty and vulnerability as the pair engages with the ramp, their chairs and each other.”
— EMILY NONKO, VICE

"Kinetic Light, a disability arts ensemble whose work is made by and for disabled people, has an ethic and aesthetic of access that is exceptionally thoughtful and thorough.
- BRIAN SEIBERT, THE NEW YORK TIMES

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Intimate Night

Alice Sheppard arches backwards from a kneeling position, her legs folded underneath her as her arms stretch behind her head, hands delicately resting on the ground. Laurel Lawson balances on Alice’s thighs, body curled in a ball. Laurel wraps their arms around Alice’s waist and lays their head on her stomach. Alice is a multiracial Black woman with coffee-colored skin and short curly blonde hair. Laurel is a white person with short hair wearing laced ankle braces. Their metallic jumpsuits glint rainbows. Photo Cherylynn Tsushima

Workshops: Equitable Accessibility

Exercises, tools, frameworks, & support to develop your access and equity practice

ALLways

Jan 30: Intro to Access Thinking & Practice

Feb 20: Focus Time: Booking Access Providers

Mar 27: Access as Creative Practice

full 2025 curriculum or custom classes for your org

A grid of 20 white icons representing many forms of access

Wired

Access as an Ethic:
Myriad Points of Entry to Wired

Alice, a multiracial Black woman with coffee-colored skin and short curly hair wearing deep red and copper and Laurel, a white person with cropped teal hair wearing gold with black leather, swing mid-air: upside down, arms outstretched and curved, bodies extending to the end of their arc. Wheels and frames shine; below, as if sucking them in, is a swirling vortex of twisting wire. Photo Nathan Keay

Descent

“One could argue that, with Sara Hendren’s architectural ramp, it is actually a trio—poetic, passionate and, frankly, haaaawwwt. Sheppard and Lawson are remarkably precise, electric performers.”
— EVA YAA ASANTEWAA, DANCE CRITIC

Venus balances on the footplate of Andromeda’s wheelchair, arms spread wide and wheels spinning. Andromeda opens her arms wide to receive her in an embrace. They make eye contact and smile. A starry sky fills the background, and moonlight glints off their rims. Photo BRITT / Jay Newman

"Most moving performance of 2018" - Dance Magazine

Under Momentum

Atop an artificial mountain, Laurel and Alice suspend face to face, falling backwards; heads lifted, backs arched, sculpted arms reaching overhead with palms flat to the sky. Copper bodysuits, black mesh, silver chairs glitter and reflect deep red light. Photo Lincoln Center/Christopher Duggan