Exposing the Implicit: AD for Aerial Action, Identity, and Storytelling

ABSTRACT

Dr. Katrina Carter shares some of the challenges and successes she encountered when incorporating Audio Description (AD) into an undergraduate circus module in the UK, for the first time. She demonstrates how, by considering diverse audiences, access tools can enhance the creative process for the artists themselves. Forcing them to question what, how and why they make specific choices can facilitate a deeper understanding of their own story-telling. On completion, the finished works then have the potential to be received more fully, by diverse audiences.

Notes

¹ Jenny Sealey, Artistic Director of Graeae Theatre Company, UK, is hailed as one of the, if not the, initiator of access aesthetics. “Accessibility and inclusion are absolutely permeated within Graeae's DNA” (Johnston, 2016, p. 154), she said, explaining that access for D/deaf, visually, and mobility impaired actors was considered throughout any production, but in experimental and creative rather than purely functional ways. Having spent many years working alongside Sealey, not least when choreographing the aerial for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony, explorations into how diverse forms of communication could be artistically incorporated into the production were paramount. British Sign Language, AD, and captioning are, in many ways, considered the minimum in any production.

² For detailed information on aerial and how it intersects with disability and/or impairment, read Suspending Conventions (Carter, 2014).

³ For ethical reasons, the students' names have been omitted from the text and reference list. Transcriptions were taken from private videos of the work.

⁴ See the book section called Training and Learning in Reasons to be Graeae: A Work in Progress for more information.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katrina Carter

Katrina (Tina) Carter has been a professional aerialist for more than 20 years. She now focuses on teaching, choreography, and research. She teaches regularly at East 15 Acting School and at her Airhedz.co.uk. Recent choreography includes Graeae's This is NOT for you with 25 disabled performers commemorating the end of World War I. Her research stems from her practice, often examining the creative challenges that present themselves when conventional aerial and atypical aerialists meet in a space. Determined to make aerial more accessible, she writes, presents, and consults on Accessible Aerial, working most recently with the UK's National Centre for Circus Arts.