Art truly does have the ability to inspire and bring people together in ways that words alone cannot. “Art from Heart” program of VOSAP that was launched with the aim of spreading awareness, evoking emotions, and conveying issues and solutions as relates to disability has expanded at VOSAP by joining hands with Nityashetra School of Dance, dedicated to teaching Bharat Natyam, the Indian classical dance form.
VOSAP team proudly witnessed “Shamskruti – Rhythms of Inclusion:Moving towards Equality”, a dance performance event in Tustin, California. It was a beautiful showcase of how a thematic dance performance can engage the youth and spark meaningful dialogue about accessibility and disability inclusion.
The event featured 30 Bharatanatyam dancers who performed to tell the stories of a physically challenged girl, a blind teenage dancer, a blind boy and a deaf and mute child and how their friends portrayed inclusion, engaged with them and encouraged them to enjoy. They beautifully used their art – dance – as a medium to convey deep, emotional narratives and foster empathy that moved the audience. Dance, with its ability to communicate emotion and narrative without words, offers a unique and deeply personal way to represent the challenges and triumphs of those with disabilities. By channeling these experiences through expressions, the dancers honored the lives of blind and deaf artists and invited the audience to feel and understand their journeys in a profound way. The creativity, expression, practice, and intent behind these young dancers’ performances really highlight how deeply they are connected with the lives of those with disabilities.
We are grateful to Guru Deepali Vora Ji who came up with “Shamskruti”, for the powerful vision and lots of efforts, months of practice for this initiative. The dedication and collaboration Deepali Ji and her team invested are truly remarkable. The evening was graced by esteemed leaders like Zeel Ahir (Council member) and Daphna Patel (Commissioner) of Artesia city, Dr. Pradeep Shukla and other leaders from academia, business and social groups. Dr. Shukla and the VOSAP team discussed how VOSAP can work together with Chapman University where 10,000+ students and a thriving Disability policy research center is committed to advocacy.
Sanchita and Astha, two amazing dancers, shared personal stories of how they are embracing the disability of their family members and their views inspired over 300+ audience members. Dedicated efforts of VOSAP Executive Member Jayana Shah, along with the meaningful collaborations, are expanding VOSAP’s vision of empowering lives through art and advocacy. VOSAP founders Shri Pranav and Usha Desai met with the dancers and inspired everyone with the VOSAP presentation that helped raise awareness and donations for empowerment of specially abled people.
As we continue to explore new artistic expressions, we will create more opportunities to engage diverse communities, dance institutions, universities and amplify the message of disability inclusion, accessibility and empowerment, harnessing ABILITY of EVERYONE.
Personal experiences shared by Sanchita and Astha, 2 of the amazing dancers:
Astha :
“As the students of Nityashetra Dance School, we would like to start by thanking the Voice of SAP and our guru, Deepali Auntie for allowing us to offer a small token of support for the mission of SAP. Voice of SAP’s mission of rephrasing how we think about disabilities is extremely important. Disabilities are painful for the person experiencing them on two levels:
1.) the inability to engage in activities you expect your body to be able to do and
2) the shame and loss of identity that comes from those inabilities. And they are much more common than you think.
I saw this with my mother, who was diagnosed with a very rare neurodegenerative disease with no known external or genetic causes called multiple system atrophy at the age of 50 in 2023. She struggles to walk and speak, two abilities she derived her identity from. She often worries that I think of her as a bad mom because she can’t do my laundry for me. To which I respond – I am 24 years old, I think it would be a problem if you were still doing my laundry for me. She also no longer likes to go to India and meet old friends because of the shame she feels for her illness. These feelings are due to our conditioning as a society.”
Sanchita :
“My aunt has been unable to speak or hear since her childhood, but these challenges have strengthened her other abilities. Despite her difficulty in experiencing and expressing the world the way you and I do, she understands me better than anyone else. She knows me better than I know myself, she’s my best friend and always seems to know what I need without the need for words. She is a pillar of strength, wisdom, and resilience in my life. Her presence shows me that true identity and connection have nothing to do with conventional abilities.
We have created a culture in which our identity comes from what we do versus who we are. Furthermore, we create artificial hierarchies of commendable abilities versus non commendable ones. When the truth is, we all just have been gifted with different, but very special abilities. Thus, as a society we need to create individual identity beyond these abilities. And with Shamskruti, we have proposed one way to address this: Inclusion.”
