Abstract
The article examines two main choreographies of non-standard motorics. The first of them is dubbed ‘virtuoso aesthetization’, the other – ‘difference enhancement’. Their functioning can be explained by reference to certain ballet moves in which a dancer with disability is paired with a highly-skilled performer, e.g. Diana Niepce in Anda, Diana or Mary Verdi-Fletcher’s Dancing in my dreams… daring to be free! In either show the danseuse is lifted and led by her partner. However, while the body language of Anda, Diana accentuates the overcoming of resistance, the latter is a ballet dance in which the other body is made to follow and bend. Whereas Diana Niepce creates a choreography suggestive of crip, where dramatic tension is built on the ever-present risk of pain and injury, Mary Verdi-Fletcher’s art seems to be driven by a desire to leave behind the imperfections of the body. This could be interpreted as an echo of a discriminatory attitude towards disability (ableism). The article asks the question whether Verdi-Fletch-er’s performances have an emancipatory potential, but the main focus is on the compar-ison in the two artists’ choreographic practice. It seems, the article concludes, that either has developed her own model of expanding and loosening up the ballet dance canon.
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