Disability in Performance

What are the radical possibilities of disability and performance? In this chapter, the artistic practices of leading disabled dance and performance artists in Europe are critically explored. By drawing connections between artistic practices and wider thinking in disability studies, this chapter charts the medical and social models of disability and how these models relate to performance. This contextualises the politicised term ‘crip’ and artists whose practices can be understood as examples of ‘cripping’ performance and dance. This chapter makes the case for the necessity and creativity of disabled artists reconfiguring the very terms by which we see and understand performance.