The Gimp Project

"GIMP is without doubt a gleaming milestone in the progress of contemporary dance and
theater, proving that the term "disabled dancer" is an oxymoron."  Dance Magazine

So, in my last post, I said I would have more information about Heidi's work The Gimp Project and here it is!

As I had said before, Gimp was the first work I had ever seen from Heidi Latsky. The piece came to Milwaukee this past year and it was truly a privilege to get to see it. Now, the title may be raising some questions in your mind which brings me to the entire premise of the piece...

When you think of a dancer, you don't normally think of someone without an arm or leg or someone with cerebral palsy who cannot walk upright, but Heidi does. In this piece, there are four trained, able-bodied dancers as well as four people with physical disabilities together on stage. Though it seems slightly backwards for a dance show, the combination of the different bodies is an engaging and moving thing. Eventually, while watching this piece, you forget the disabilities of the four dancers and simply notice the beauty of bodies moving in space. Though I don't think it is Heidi's goal to make the audience forget the disability, I think it is her goal to make you see the beauty in every body type and in her own words "[that] all bodies are recognized as viable, fascinating and expressive instruments."

 At the performance in Milwaukee, the piece featured to two aerialists, one without legs; a young girl without a whole arm; a man with cerebral palsy and a woman with a paralyzed foot. Though the cast of disabled dancers does change from performance to performance, the meaning behind the piece never does. In hearing Heidi talk about the piece, she mentioned how open the dancers with the disabilities were. They had no trouble laying it all out on the line for an audience because it was basically what they did every day.

After the show, the audience had the opportunity to ask questions of Heidi and her dancers. Heidi talked about the process of making the piece and why she chose to do such a delicate topic. She spoke a lot about the idea of judgment and how, even without a disability, people still face judgment everyday. How do you get past that judgment? How do you get past judging yourself for whatever reason? These are striking questions and most definitely worth asking yourself.

The Gimp Project is an amazing work and something everyone should try to see! Even if you're not a huge dance lover or feel like you know nothing about it, it is still worth checking out. I can assure you that you will find something worthwhile.