Interview with Aaron Wheeler-Kay

Access is Good for Everybody

Text by Emmaly Wiederholt

In this episode of DanceCast, Silva interviews Aaron Wheeler-Kay, creative director of Echo Theater
Company in Portland, Oregon. Aaron, a master DanceAbility teacher, shares how he applied
DanceAbility to create an accessible circus arts space, as well as leverage his privilege to feature and
support other voices. After teaching DanceAbility to his staff, he describes the shift in culture at the
company and how creating an accessible space isn’t a checkbox but an ongoing process and continuous
reassessment.

Aaron Wheeler-Kay lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is the creative director of Echo Theater
Company, a non-profit with a focus on combining different performance disciplines including circus arts,
dance and devised theater to produce original performance works. Aaron teaches dance, acrobatics and
aerial arts to people of all ages and abilities. He became certified to teach DanceAbility in 2016.

https://www.bodyshift.org
http://www.echotheaterpdx.org
https://www.danceability.com
http://stanceondance.com