Dear Friend:
AXIS Dance Company has a lot to celebrate as we near the end
of 2009. We just completed our 21st Home Season performances with the premiere of Light Shelter choreographed by sensational New
York based choreographer David Dorfman. The SF Chronicle said...
"Fierce commitment and kamikaze attacks were everywhere
in evidence...In an earlier era, AXIS was, understandably, set on justifying
its existence. Today, the quality of the dancing takes your breath away." -Allan Ulrich, SF Chronicle
We're still going strong with our Dance Access and Dance Access/KIDS! education program. A highlight this year was an
in-school residency with Albany High School resulting in a final
performance by student performers called Alliance. The theme of Alliance was determined through a survey of 4th
and 5th
graders who said they most frequently heard teasing aimed at
students with unusual body size and perceived disabilities. Eighteen Albany High School students
with and without disabilities performed Alliance alongside members of AXIS Dance
Company at a school assembly last May.
Events like these inspire stories like this one from a teacher at a school
where AXIS performed:
"One of my students
was so moved by the program that in the post-discussion he shared a deforming burn
on his legs and his skin graph areas resulting from a severe burn when he was 4
years old. He wasn't supervised while a BBQ flared up as he threw
gasoline on the fire. This was a tear jerking experience for me as a
seasoned teacher of 33 years. He later said that he'd never shared this
before with his peers. He visibly showed strength and joy amidst other
students who were shocked yet compassionate and curious."
AXIS' transformational performances and
education programs would not be made possible without support
from individuals like you. Please help us reach our 2009
fundraising goal. Your donation
today of:
- $35 will pay one dancer for two
hours of rehearsal.
- $50 will pay for the cost of
gas for one van full of AXIS dancers to travel to an education/outreach
event in the Bay Area.
- $100 will pay for one dancer's
salary to do a teacher training, giving educators the tools to integrate
students with disabilities into their dance classes.
- $150 will cover the cost of one
month of health insurance for an AXIS dancer.
- $300 will pay for two dancers
to conduct a Master Class at a dance school, college or university.
- $500 will cover the cost of a
lecture demonstration at a disability awareness day for a local business.
- $1000 will cover the cost of
two AXIS assembly performances at a local elementary or middle school.
- $1500 will cover the cost of
one dancers monthly salary for January 2010
Help AXIS to keep on dancing and providing valuable
dance and disability education opportunities to the Bay Area and beyond. As dancer and writer Emmaly
Wiederholt recently wrote about her experience with AXIS:
"I'll dance how I
dance and you dance how you dance and together we'll relish in our differences,
enjoy our similarities, become more than we could individually."
With your
support we are more than we would be on our own.
With
heartfelt thanks,
Judith
Smith, Artistic Director
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Photo by Andrea Basile 
