By Talia Blewitt
Over 400 performers have met at Henderson’s Corbans Estate Arts Centre on the first day of a three day arts festival – showcasing performances, workshops, exhibitions and screenings.
The buzzing audience applauded the first acts from a handful of groups, before cheering on the spectacularly colourful wearable arts parade.
Those on the stage shimmy and shuffle while some shamelessly strut their stuff. It is their time to shine.
While it may sound like any old arty-farty get together, this is a chance for students with intellectual and physical disabilities to embrace and celebrate their creative side.
The inaugural InterACT 2011 Disability Arts Festival has been a brainstorm floating around for some years, only now getting the push from a passionate team.
Christina Crawford has been on the Interacting committee for close to four years.
As an actress affected by Williams Syndrome, the festival is a nice send off before she heads to Hamilton where she will continue campaigning for awareness on disabilities.
Ms Crawford has recently joined People First, an advocacy organisation run by, and for, people with learning and intellectual disabilities.
She says a lot of hard work has gone into getting the project off the ground; fundraising and applying for grants from the likes of the Lottery Commission, community boards and groups.
Fellow event organiser Paula Crimmins has used her talents in drama therapy to liaise with groups from as far as Rotorua to come to the festival. She is surrounded by an enthusiastic team who are fully behind the fusion between the arts and those with disabilities.
Partner Tom Cooper is onboard as well as project manager Richard Green who has worked with the school-touring Ugly Shakespeare Company.
This festival is certainly not restricted to those with an intellectual or physical disability. Anyone and everyone is encouraged to pop along over the next two days and enjoy the atmosphere.
The idyllic Corbans Estate provides the backdrop for the activity, and the sheds once used by another theatre company were a blank canvas to what is now a full stage with lighting and bleachers.
The Glen Eden Playhouse will also host stage challenges in the evening on Friday and Saturday.
It’s hard not to enjoy the vibrant energy where the students clearly thrive with this opportunity.
Maureen Hartmann, a learning support assistant at Mount Roskill Grammar’s MacLean Centre, says her group did not manage to put a performance together in time but they have come along anyway to spectate.
“We’ve got some pretty good dancers, one guy is really good at the robot,” says Ms Hartmann.
With any luck, there will be plenty more opportunities for a festival like this to happen again.
Rod Wills chairs the Interacting Disability Theatre Trust and is a senior lecturer at the University of Auckland in disability education studies. He says the festival is about getting involved, networking and showcasing the talents of the disabled community to the wider community.
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