KENNESAW, Ga. | Sep 17, 2024

Hosted by KSU Department of Dance, Full Radius Dance to perform September 25

Who gets to dance? How do you define the word dancer? Are only able bodies allowed to dance? Kennesaw State University (KSU) Department of Dance will answer those questions as they host Full Radius Dance on September 25 at 12:30 p.m. at the Student Center on the Kennesaw campus. Based in Atlanta, Full Radius Dance is a professional modern dance company in the field of physically integrated dance and features dancers with and without physical disabilities. 

Hosting Full Radius Dance at KSU was a direct result of collaborative conversation between Chair and Professor of Dance Marsha Barsky and School of Art and Design Professor of Art Education Diana Gregory, who serves on KSU’s Disability Access Coalition. “Through Professor Gregory’s recommendation, we were able to network and create a connection between Full Radius and the Department of Dance, and it turned into this unique opportunity for KSU students, faculty, staff, and our friends in the community,” said Barsky.  

Full Radius Dance also developed out of a collaboration. Founding Artistic and Executive Director Douglas Scott partnered with VSA arts of Georgia, the Shepherd Center and Special Audiences to teach dance classes for persons with physical disabilities. He was intrigued by the challenge of creating a modern dance technique that would be inclusive and challenging, firmly founded in art, and not designed to be therapy. 

Through hard work, trial and error, and mutual learning between him and his students, Scott developed a distinct style and technique that is now celebrated for its artistry and inclusiveness. The Company is committed to promoting its core value of body positivity and redefining the boundaries of dance through performance, advocacy, and education. 

Barsky is making the most of Full Radius’ visit to KSU, including classes and workshops on disability in the arts, and a residency to work closely with the dance students. “Without a doubt, Full Radius will enhance our curriculum. It’s an opportunity to understand how both disabled and non-disabled dancers can form a truly integrative dance company, both in practice and in performance. It will also help our students understand the obstacles that disabled persons must overcome daily,” she says. 

In keeping with KSU’s emphasis on research, Barsky and Associate Professor of Dance Andrea Knowlton will examine student perceptions while the Company is on campus. Specifically, their research will ask: What are the perceptions of students on disability and dance? Will watching a physically integrated performance change their views? Recipients of a diversity research grant from Kennesaw State’s new division of Organizational Effectiveness, Leadership Development, and Inclusive Excellence (OLI), Barsky and Knowlton hope to create a model that perhaps could be adopted by other schools or programs. 

Full Radius Dance will perform on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 12:30 p.m. in University Rooms A & B of the Student Center on the Kennesaw campus. The performance is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. 

--Kathie Beckett