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DanceAbility breaks boundaries A DanceAbility troupe gives a performance. Photo courtesy of www.danceability.com Wednesday Aug 31, 2016 at 4:48 PM Aug 31, 2016 at 4:48 PM John Darling for the Mail Tribune DanceAbility, a nonprofit from Eugene that educates people with and without disabilities through dance and movement  is looking to train teachers from the area. A five-day workshop will be held in Ashland over two weekends to train teachers to work across all boundaries of ability, to reduce prejudice and enhance diversity in dance and, actually, in all fields of life. Alito Alessi, who created the nonprofit and will lead the Ashland training, works to dissolve the identification of dancers as disabled or not, so each person is respected as an equal individual, he says. This is the first time the training has been offered in Ashland. The organization, he notes, has worked 29 years to certify 500 teachers in 40 countries. “They learn to become teachers of this method and identify the common denominators,” he says, “like where is the starting point for people to learn movement, to experience their own bodies, to develop nonverbal relationships and become an equal part of their community, learning fitness and … taking that into relationships.” “All movement is language," Alessi adds. "The body is speaking. All bodies speak. We take that into a conversation, a relationship, open to the natural expression of your own body. We take it into the atmosphere of the community where all movement is equal and validated. It’s also fun.” Alessi began exploring "mixed-abilities dance" in the late 1980s. His training of more than 500 teachers in the DanceAbility method has reached tens of thousands of individuals in the U.S. and more than 25 countries. DanceAbility International performers from Eugene have wowed audiences in recent years at Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Shows. The teacher training course provides basic DanceAbility exercises and theory for immediate application for those who want to lead movement improvisation and mixed-abilities inclusive dance, according to its website, www.danceability.com. DanceAbility is funded by grants from the Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Cultural Trust and the Wheeler Foundation, with operating support from Lane Arts Council and Oregon Arts Commission. Reduced-tuition scholarships are offered, especially to those outside the I-5 corridor. Alessi was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his contributions to increasing diversity in dance. DanceAbility International was featured on OPB’s Oregon Art Beat. For more information, call Alessi at 541-636-8095 or Kathryn Gaines at 541-731-1643, or email [email protected]. The DanceAbility teacher orientation runs Sept. 16-18 and 23-25 at Dancing People Company, 310 Oak St. For more information and registration, see www.danceability.com or call 541-357-4982. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].