Short

Who does dance belong to? Danceable weaves together portraits of three dancers with disabilities: Lark, a deaf performer; Janpi, who uses a wheelchair; and Marci, a teacher with Down Syndrome. They reject societal limits imposed on them, and through dance, interviews, and archival materials, we learn of each performer’s journey. They reveal the struggles of growing up disabled, how they found dance, and why they love it. Their journeys exemplify how dance can serve as a tool for healing, liberation, and building community as they share their passion through teaching.

There may be no journey more fascinating than the exploration of our roots. There may be nothing more revealing than the discovery of where we come from – our inspiration, our ideas, our culture. In the ESPN short film BLACK GIRLS PLAY, directors Michéle Stephenson and Joe Brewster chronicle the origins of the hand games that have been played by young Black girls for generations, and their influence on music, dance, and community all across the American creative landscape.

For her entire professional life, renowned ecologist Nalini Nadkarni pioneered climbing techniques to study “what grows back” after an ecological disturbance in the rainforest canopy. Now, after surviving a life-threatening fall from a tree, she must turn her research question onto herself in order to understand the effects of disturbance and recovery throughout her life.