THE 19 PERCENT: DISABILITY AND ACTOR TRAINING IN HIGHER EDUCATION by Deric McNish B.A., Binghamton University, 2001 M.F.A., Case Western Reserve University, 2008 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theatre and Dance 2013 This thesis entitled: The 19 Percent: Disability and Actor Training in Higher Education written by Deric McNish has been approved for the Department of Theatre and Dance ______________________________________________________ Oliver Gerland, Ph.D. ______________________________________________________ Beth Osnes, Ph.D. Date______________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocol # 12-0407 iii McNish, Deric (Ph.D., Theatre and Dance) The 19 Percent: Disability and Actor Training in Higher Education Thesis directed by Associate Professor Oliver Gerland Abstract: The purpose of this dissertation is to study training methods for students with disabilities in college acting courses. Although more than 19% of Americans live with some form of documented disability, this is a minority that is virtually non-existent on stage and screen. Able-bodied actors play nearly all of the available roles, a practice that some consider a modern form of minstrelsy. As written, the few characters seen often reflect outdated disability models, perpetuating stereotypes that can be reductive and harmful. There is a troublesome lack of authenticity in writing and casting. One of the many reasons for this lack of visibility may be related to a disproportionately low number of trained actors with disabilities in the professional market. This research addresses the barriers that students with disabilities face when they seek actor training in higher education. An extensive survey of existing literature addresses primary and secondary questions. A series of interviews reveals many positive practices that can contribute to a more welcoming and inclusive actor training program. Well-known instructors of acting, voice, and movement share wisdom earned from decades of experience. Actors with disabilities that have worked professionally and completed an actor training program provide valuable insight by sharing class experiences and personal challenges, information which may prove useful for future instructors and students. These interviews gather some valuable perspectives on a largely unexplored topic. Some strategies that have been uncovered include ways to adapt popular acting, voice, speech, and movement pedagogies for the greatest variety of students, ways to effectively communicate with college students with disabilities, and responsible strategies for portraying disability identity during in class scene work. Some of these findings reflect the principles of Universal Design for Learning, which can be useful in practice-based theatre courses. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the generosity demonstrated by every individual that I interviewed. They each have my sincere gratitude. Thanks to my parents, Richard and Cassandra McNish, for their unwavering support. I am grateful for my tireless and insightful committee: Oliver Gerland, Beth McGee, Beth Osnes, Tamara Meneghini, and Cecilia Pang. v CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………….. 1 1.1 Statement of Purpose ……………………………………….. 1 1.2 Need for Study …………………………………………………. 2 1.3 Research Questions ………………………………………….. 5 1.4 Methodology ……………………………………………………. 7 1.4.1 Interview Procedures ………………………….. 9 1.4.2 Language …………………………………………….. 13 1.5 Study Outline ……………………………………………………. 15 1.6 Limitations and Conclusions ……………………………… 17 2. BACKGROUND …………………………………………………………………... 20 2.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………… 20 2.2 Disability Definitions and Models ………………………. 21 2.3 Representations, Visibility, Aesthetics, and Authenticity ………………………………………………… 28 2.3.1 Consequences of Invisibility ………………….. 29 2.3.2 Authenticity …………………………………………. 31 2.3.3 Extraordinary Bodies …………………………… 36 2.4 Actors with Disabilities in the Professional Market …………………………………………... 38 2.5 College Students with Disabilities ………………………. 41 2.6 Universal Design for Learning ……………………………. 44 2.7 Accessibility, Architecture, and the Politics of Space …………………………………………… 48 vi 2.8 Factors Affecting Career Choice …………………………. 51 2.9 Talent, Skill, Training, and the Gatekeepers ……….. 54 2.10 Conclusions ……………………………………………………. 61 3. ACTING, VOICE, and MOVEMENT ………………………...……………. 63 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………….. 63 3.2 “Crip” the Body of Knowledge …………………………… 69 3.3 Communication ………………………………………………... 76 3.4 Blindsided ………………………………………………………... 81 3.4.1 Amanda Giguere ………………………………….. 87 3.4.2 Ike Schambelan …………………………………… 92 3.4.3 Onward ……………………………………………….. 97 3.5 Bella Merlin ………………………………………………………. 98 3.6 Nick O’Brien ……………………………………………………… 101 3.7 Robert Cohen, Robert Barton, and Rob Roznowski …………………………………………… 103 3.8 Lyndsay Marie Giraldi-Palmer ……………………………. 108 3.9 jill Summerville …………………………………………………. 113 3.10 Other Elements of Actor Training: Voice and Movement …………………………………………..……. 120 3.11 Movement Training …………………………………………. 121 3.12 Michael Lugering …………………………………………….. 129 3.13 Voice Training ………………………………………………… 134 3.14 Rocco Dal Vera …………..……………………………….…… 139 3.15 jason Dorwart ……………………..…………………….……. 145 vii 3.15.1 Reacclimatizing: Voice and Breath ………. 146 3.15.2 Reinventing Movement Pedagogy ……….. 149 3.15.3 Communication ………………………………….. 151 3.15.4 Being Seen ……………………………………….… 155 3.15.5 Inclusion ……………………………………………. 156 3.16 Regan Linton …………………………………………………… 158 3.16.1 Adapting Vocal Pedagogy ……………………. 159 3.16.2 Little Things ……………………………………….. 163 3.17 Jenna Bainbridge ……………………………………………… 164 3.18 Conclusion ……………………………………………………….. 168 4. CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………… 172 4.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………….. 172 4.2 Context ………………………………………………………………. 175 4.3 Main Points ………………………………………………………… 177 4.3.1 Overall Philosophies ……………………………… 178 4.3.2 Flexibility ……………………………………………… 179 4.3.3 Communication …………………………………….. 179 4.3.4 Disability Identity …………………………………. 181 4.3.5 Embrace UDL ……………….….………...………….. 182 4.3.6 Practical Matters …………………………………… 183 4.4 Limitations ………………………………………………………… 185 4.5 Areas for Future Study ……………………………………….. 189 4.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………. 191 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………..……………………… 193 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this dissertation is to study strategies for accessibility and training methods for students with disabilities in college acting courses. My research aims to identify common obstacles to students with disabilities in practice based theatre classes and rehearsals, as well as to document strategies that attempt to mitigate these barriers. Efforts to credibly represent the diversity of American society on stage and screen have met with difficulties, not the least of which is a lack of trained actors with disabilities. The implementation of the Rehabilitation Act (section 504) in 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 has led to more students with disabilities enrolling in colleges and universities than ever before. If a greater number of these students choose to participate in the performing arts and successfully complete actor training programs, the end result well might be an improvement in the way people with disabilities are represented on stage and screen through authenticity in casting and more truthful stories, greater visibility in media, and a more ingenuous representation of the demographics of our diverse society. In the fall of 2010, I taught an Introduction to Acting course at the University of Colorado Boulder in which one of my students was blind. I didn't have foreknowledge that any of my students required accommodation and, upon examining the curriculum I had so carefully prepared, I realized that a large percentage of the activities I had planned would in some way exclude this student. I also had very little background in ways to responsibly 2 represent contemporary disability identity on stage. Determined to give everyone in the class a valuable experience, I began a research project to gather information about training actors with disabilities in an integrated classroom. I spoke with Ike Schambelan, Artistic Director of a New York City based off-Broadway company called Theatre Breaking Through Barriers (formerly Theatre by the Blind). He described some useful and pragmatic accommodations that could be made for actors with visual impairments. A colleague at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Amanda Giguere, described an acting class experience and related how one student’s blindness united the class and helped to create a stronger ensemble. These initial experiences reaffirmed my belief that the goal of a truly diverse theatre can be furthered by making the actor training experience more accessible to people with disabilities. 1.2 Need For Study People with disabilities are underrepresented in popular media – film, television, theatre, and advertisements. Although the 2010 United States Census reveals that more than 19% of Americans live with some form of documented disability (the largest minority in America), a recent study shows that less than 1% of characters in scripted television series are depicted