The Link Between Dance and Health DanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Joseph Jeffers, the CEO of Advice Support Knowledge Information (ASKI), a London-based non-profit organization dedicated to serving older individuals from the Global Majority. He reflects on his training and career in dance, and how that led him to working in t...
Jul 15, 2025•53 min•Ep. 87
Embedded in Community Dance DanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Bronwen Wilson Rashad, a UK-based dance artist who has worked within several different communities. Bronwen shares how she was part of Julie Liebel's group which had the goal of accommodating her artistic practice while parenting, and how it eventually led her to wor...
Jun 30, 2025•41 min•Ep. 86
Rhythms of Resilience – A Story of Dance and Determination is an uplifting tale about a young boy from the Eastern Cape who discovers his passion for dance in new and unexpected ways. In a family where rhythm and joy are a part of everyday life, Tumi grows up surrounded by music and movement. When he loses his hearing, Tumi learns to connect with music in a new way—through vibrations. With the support of his family and a school where he learns sign language, he finds a renewed connection to danc...
Feb 28, 2025•12 min•Ep. 85
Welcome to Nature in Motion , a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all. Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience ...
Feb 24, 2025•20 min•Ep. 84
Welcome to Nature in Motion , a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all. Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience ...
Feb 22, 2025•23 min•Ep. 83
Welcome to Nature in Motion , a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all. Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience ...
Feb 22, 2025•18 min•Ep. 82
Welcome to Nature in Motion , a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all. Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience ...
Feb 22, 2025•18 min•Ep. 81
Welcome to Nature in Motion , a project funded by ERASMUS that explores how movement and nature come together to create a more inclusive, accessible, and enriching experience for all. Nature has the power to heal, strengthen, and restore. Whether through hiking, adaptive sports, or dance, movement in natural spaces can improve well-being and foster connection. Nature in Motion is about expanding access—adapting both movement and outdoor spaces so that individuals of all abilities can experience ...
Feb 22, 2025•14 min•Ep. 80
Disability Belongs in Dance In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Melissa van Wijk, founder and director of Born Dancing, a nonprofit based in New York City that creates performances featuring dancers with and without disabilities, orchestrates dance education opportunities for children with disabilities, and supports the entry of people with disabilities into the dance field. She shares how one day on a train in Manhattan she realized she had never been in a dance class with a person w...
Feb 11, 2025•45 min•Ep. 79
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Gladys Agulhas, a multi-award-winning independent dance artist, choreographer and dance facilitator who has pioneered inclusive dance practices in South Africa. Gladys shares her early love of dance and social work during apartheid and how an introduction to Adam Benjamin's " Table stories" created for Candoco Dance Company changed her trajectory. She describes how she learned from the dancers with disabilities themselves working in relative isolati...
Feb 08, 2025•51 min•Ep. 78
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews disabled dance artist and researcher Kate Marsh. Based in the UK, Kate shares her perspective as an assistant professor at Coventry University. She reflects on how the discourse on disability has evolved during her career, from breaking literal barriers to breaking attitudinal barriers, and yet how today’s dance education landscape is experiencing economic cuts. She discusses her personal trajectory and how the pipeline she traversed is the epitome ...
Jan 31, 2025•40 min•Ep. 76
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews dance artist Elisabeth Motley, a New York City-based choreographer, scholar, and teacher whose work is concerned with disability as a framework for creative practice. Elisabeth describes how her journey began in rigorous normative dance practice and how she came to disability by way of a recurring brain disease that impacts her physical and cognitive abilities. Her pedagogy revolves around her own experience and her dreams of a curriculum that is no...
Jan 31, 2025•27 min•Ep. 77
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews dance artist Devin Hill. Devin describes their experience growing up with a rare eye condition and how it affected their motor skills. Their mother put them in dance to help with balance and coordination. Devin shares their experience pursuing dance in college and learning to be an advocate for themself as a dancer with a disability by communicating their needs. They share how change often starts with just having people with disabilities be in the r...
Sep 23, 2024•40 min•Ep. 75
The Value of Studying Dance DanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Jasmiina Sipilä, who works as a leading teacher in the dance department of Vocational College Live, where they offer the only professional dance degree in Finland for dancers with special needs. The professional degree in dance is aimed for students with special need...
Sep 20, 2024•49 min•Ep. 74
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Rhona Coughlan, the artistic director of Inclusive Dance Cork in Cork, Ireland, along with project coordinator Dr. Kaylie Streit. Inclusive Dance Cork is a professional dance training program for people with and without disabilities who want to engage with contemporary inclusive dance. This program is based at Dance Cork Firkin Crane and is the only accredited program of its kind in the Republic of Ireland. Rhona shares her empowering entrance into ...
Sep 13, 2024•39 min•Ep. 73
Seeking Barrier-Free Dance Education DanceCast is a podcast that spotlights non-traditional dance artists. It is produced by Silva Laukkanen, an advocate for inclusive dance based in Austin, TX. In this episode of DanceCast, Silva Laukkanen is actually the interviewee. She is interviewed by co-worker April Sullivan and Art Spark Texas’ executive director Celia Hughes. This episode is part of a series interviewing institutions with inclusive dance programs and individuals who identify as disabled...
Aug 27, 2024•58 min•Ep. 72
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Jun 04, 2022•13 min•Ep. 71
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Jun 04, 2022•12 min•Ep. 70
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
May 11, 2022•13 min•Ep. 69
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
May 11, 2022•11 min•Ep. 68
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 25, 2022•13 min•Ep. 67
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 25, 2022•11 min•Ep. 66
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 19, 2022•15 min•Ep. 65
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 18, 2022•10 min•Ep. 64
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 14, 2022•13 min•Ep. 63
Breadth of Bodies: Discussing Disability in Dance seeks to investigate stereotypes often used to describe professional dancers with disabilities. Spearheaded by Emmaly Wiederholt and Silva Laukkanen with illustrations by visual artist Liz Brent-Maldonado, the team interviewed 35 professional dance artists with disabilities around the country and world, asking about training, access, and press, as well as looking at the state of the field. Purchase your print copy of Breadth of Bodies: Discussing...
Apr 06, 2022•14 min•Ep. 62
“I Have Terrible Anxiety but I Love Being Onstage” In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews her intern Emily Heath, a dance student at Bennington College. As a young person, Emily reflects on the economic uncertainty of pursuing dance and their desire to learn more entrepreneurial and marketable skills in addition to somatic-based curriculum. Emily reflects on their ongoing experience of anxiety, and how they now feel supported in dance environments but acknowledge that getting a diagnosis...
Feb 13, 2022•25 min•Ep. 61
Exploring How Performance is Experienced In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Jess Curtis, an award-winning choreographer, performer, and scholar based in San Francisco and Berlin. Jess reflects on his entrance to dance through skiing and how he was immediately hooked to being onstage. He shares how his career took a turn when he accepted a job in an interdisciplinary nouveau cirque company in France, and how he later established himself in Berlin while still running his company Jess C...
Feb 09, 2022•40 min•Ep. 60
How Dance is Taught / Daniel Levi-Sanchez . In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews the dance educator Daniel Levi-Sanchez. Daniel reflects on his formative years teaching himself street forms as well as eventually receiving more traditional training from the Inner-City Ensemble Theatre and Dance Co., from Juilliard, and from Twyla Tharp herself. Daniel advocates for a teaching style that empowers students instead of isolates them. He muses on how a ballet or jazz class will lose a lot of...
Feb 06, 2022•36 min•Ep. 60
In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Tebandeke Joseph, an African contemporary dance artist based in Uganda. He shares how athletics led him to contemporary dance, and how he sees dance as an engine for change. Tebandeke aims to change the community perspective on disability through street performances and through the schools. He dreams of eventually opening an accessible dance center with an adjoining library about dance and sports so people with disabilities can have more support and...
Jan 24, 2022•38 min•Ep. 59
