Maeve Kelleher - Will.I.Can: Conversations About Inclusion With William O'Donovan
So armed with a wealth of knowledge/questions from the DISABILITY and CULTURAL MANAGEMENT course I was fortunate to attend online with Acesso Cultura, Portugal, in February over two days ... I approached dancer/actor William O’Donovan, all round nice guy and wheelchair user, for his thoughts on living and working as a person with a disability - specifically within the cultural sector in Cork. I explained I wanted/needed to get his opinions on things the course had brought up from someone whose lived experience this is. There was one big condition from me - he had to be totally honest - the Mr Nice Guy who had worked with me so many times had to go out the window! I had my prep done - I knew he had plenty to say ... I was determined to scratch below the surface for authentic answers - here is what I got
So getting to a rehearsal/venue/performance?
The practicalities of getting there without being able to drive yourself - I thought being a non-driver I had problems! So, William often has to take two modes of transport to get to rehearsal ... bus and taxi. Very matter of fact, that was the way he explained - but why not just choose one? Further delving ... expense, and the very fact Cork is full of hills! Taxis are expensive - he lives around 10km outside the city, and often the bus route leaves him with a hill to climb to get to where he needs to go ... I am reminded of the other performers as they rush in two or three minutes before rehearsals ... William is always early - like really early - he can turn up nearly an hour before set time. Apart from the geographical hills he has to climb, there is also often access problems to rehearsal venues he has to overcome.
Getting inside?
Steps, stairs, narrow doorways steal his independence - he needs to phone from outside the venue to say he is there so someone can go out to help him in - often having to leave their own rehearsal. William does not want to disturb the flow of rehearsals, but there is no other choice. Sometimes it has happened that as he waits a kindly passerby offers help. He has some mobility out of the chair, but does need support to navigate stairs. Yes, I have seen him having to get out of the chair and be supported to get up the stairs of a rehearsal venue because there is no lift. Wheelchair accessible rehearsal venues are difficult to acquire and often it is the only place the company can get that is suitable to the needs of a large group of dancers/has mirrors and within financial constraints. One or two people help him and another carries the wheelchair up the stairs - he maintains his sunny personality throughout! We all make sacrifices doing shows to try make ‘it work’ - we give up parties, family events, leisure time etc to attend rehearsals/to get the show on the road ... William gives up a bit of his dignity(but he never says this - he like a lot of people with disabilities do not make a big deal of it). There has to be a better way.
Urban life challenges?
As I flick through my notes from the course ... we chat away on Zoom (it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote down the notes and a lot, even within restrictions, has gone on in my life - have spent many nice hours on walks or even found new pleasures in essential shopping, the supermarket has suddenly become more of an exciting expedition!) - William hasn’t been in the outside world for months. There are pages of notes, it was quite an intensive course ... I see the word ‘cobblestones’ - ah yes ... I have written down that it was observed these can be painful for someone in a wheelchair - I put this to William ... ‘I see it as a free massage’ he laughs - I note to him that is one way of putting it! Nice aesthetically(aesthetics play a huge part in our cityscape design), - but cobblestones are the enemy of high heels and what I hadn’t really thought of before - big time the enemy of ... wheelchair users. ‘Roads are good - footpaths are terrible,’ ... he continues. Roads are not meant for people in wheelchairs - it is totally dangerous I observe to him to travel in a wheelchair out on the road - but he states footpaths are often impossible for him, there is often no choice a lot of the time but for him to take his chances on the road.
Public transport?
I thought the 3-4 hours of rehearsal was a marathon ... William’s own personal marathon started long before the rehearsal actually kicked off ... and apparently not every bus is not wheelchair accessible - I thought nowadays all were? - surely?!? I am informed they can be random - often you have to leave a bus go because it is not accessible and wait for another one. So you have to leave time to make sure you get to rehearsal/performance on time. We drill into people that discipline/punctually is so important in theatre ... William is always there and always on time. And after an often intense rehearsal - there is the long journey home.
Venues?
What makes a bad venue in terms of accessibility? We covered all this naturally in the course - and naturally his answers match - steps, no ramps, no lift, or even sometimes a lift but steps leading to the lift. The apprehension that when you get there the lift may not be working ... the answer can be something as simple as a portable ramp ... yes in an ideal world design for buildings should take into account accessibility for people with disabilities, but what of existing venues that have not updated? Something as simple as a portable ramp can make all the difference. And counters ... modern design often favours tall counters in reception areas - they look nice! - but not everyone is up to that level, people come in all sizes - and then there are wheelchair users ... it is perhaps something a lot of designers don’t take into consideration in the receptions of cultural venues.
Floors?
We dancers fuss a lot about floors and quite rightly so! William dives out of the chair and break dances down on the floor., I remembered being amazed the first time I saw him do that and so impressed by his passion to express himself through dance - but of course concrete, hard-wood floors as well as being uncomfortable can cause injuries - this has happened to William trying to rehearse on the wrong sort of floors. ‘The show must go on’ - but at what price?. A specialised dance floor(like a heavy duty type of linoleum) is the best option ... yet again to continue to dance William has made do with less than suitable surfaces - he wants it noted it is the same for ALL dancers.
Inclusion?
I refer back to the course - about people with disabilities being portrayed in a certain way in the media/advertising. We discuss this and it leads on - we laugh about someone on a bus praising someone else for helping William ... ‘You are very good to help him’ ... how often do we talk about someone with a disability as if they are not even there? My own experiences of working with people with disabilities is that they have a very clear voice when we ‘allow’/‘enable’ them to use it, when they are given that opportunity, when an effort is made to include them in the conversation. When we listen to the needs of people - when we probe someone nice like William to tell it warts and all - we learn so much. I know him well, and he is beginning to open up on the obstacles he faces, but I am also aware that he doesn’t want to be pitied - nor should he be or people with disabilities like him - but they do need to be facilitated to lead their lives the way they choose to. If that means a dream of being a dancer or actor or director or choreographer or dance teacher - why not? Inclusion is a word that is ‘out’ there a lot now - I think of reading somewhere ... diversity is inviting people to the party, inclusion is inviting them to dance.
The Arts
in the Arts you need you to have a lot of resilience - it is not for the faint hearted - people with disabilities like William have plenty of resilience and heart - they have to! He has had to wait in a cramped side stage area, often for up to an hour for his turn to perform because there is no other way of him getting accessibility to it once the performance has started. He waits in the wings as the other performers almost have to climb over him due to lack of space side stage, he has had to forego the fun and camaraderie of the dressing-room, he has had to struggle really hard to focus on his performance and not at the numerous obstacles around him. He continues to be enthusiastic and partake in the Arts scene in Cork ... remotely atm but stresses cannot wait to get back to working with everyone again.
we had had some of this conversation over the years of working together, but taking part in the course has pinpointed things more for me. I was glad to talk with someone who has all these issues as their lived experience. However this conversation really nearly didn’t happen - William came back to me after I had given him an initial set of topics, that he didn’t really know what to say - I think he didn’t want to come across as complaining - so as I said it nearly didn’t happen ... I thought of other people with disabilities that I could contact, but something made me persist as I knew he has plenty to say, and wanted to give him that ‘voice’ because he is a vital voice in all this. No pressure I told him - I would make a series of questions based on topics covered on the course and we would just have a informal talk on zoom - I know zoom due to the circumstances of the pandemic is a big part of his life now - he jokes he is zooming all over the place and hasn’t got a ticket yet ... we laugh. Zoom - you either love or hate it but we couldn’t do without it! We would have preferred to meet up - restrictions/safety did not allow for this. I mention that hopefully soon all this will pass and we can go back to doing what we like - but it passes through my head that my favourite cafe, the park near me, our usual rehearsal venue - nothing changes there - they all remain totally unaccessible to William. I say nothing. William like a lot of people with disabilities does not rightly want to be put apart from other people - but there is a reality there ... we will get back to ‘the new normal’ - there is no doubt in my mind now is the time to get back to a better normal for marginalised groups in our communities.
Maria Vlachou who lead the course stressed the importance of clear, precise language when discussing where we need to go with issues for people with disabilities - to be fluid and flexible with strategies. We need to promote autonomy and to guarantee quality. I totally agree. We do also need sometimes though to acknowledge that not all can be perfect right away and we can find ways around things and to promote action when we have clear communication with people with disabilities and with their families ... I know in my own practice, families have often stepped in to ‘show me the way’ - it is also of course their lived experience and they want the best for their loved ones So these are the people to include in our conversations going forward - people living with disabilities, their families, the people who support them in organisations, and the William’s of this world! We need clear voices as in what are the barriers beyond the physical barriers - TRUE EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITIES. These will be our guides. Respect and dignity and honesty. Finding solutions together. Not just ‘on paper’, not just in meetings, not just in extensive plans but in reality in a practical way. Quality of life is inclusion.
WE.CAN.DO.BETTER!!!
William O’Donovan
Conversations between William and Maeve - March 2021, Cork, Ireland on Zoom.
William O’Donovan - Dance Artist with MAKING MOVES dance company, Croi Glan dance company and Rebel Cork Drama Group. Diploma in Contemporary Living UCC.
Maeve Kelleher - Dance Artist, choreographer and dance educator. Artistic Director - MAKING MOVES dance company and dance facilitator on CHANCE TO DANCE - Firkin Crane.
*Following on from online course with Acesso Cultural Portugal facilitated by Maria Vlachou
*WILL.I.CAN refers to song of the same title written for and about William O’Donovan by Terry Lingwood and performed live by Terry and William in MAKING MOVES performance of WINTER MOVES 2019 with choreography by Maeve Kelleher(inspired totally by working with William O’Donovan and lyrics of song by Terry Lingwood)
I would like to express my thanks to Arts for All, Cork Arts Office, Siobhan Clancy - Community Arts Coordinator - Cork City Council, Maria Vlachou - Acesso Cultura/Executive Director and lastly but not least ....... Mr William O’Donovan.
- Maeve Kelleher 31st March 2021