IMAGE BY CHRIS PARKES/STOPGAP
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Sand-R (he/they) is a disabled artist from The Netherlands where he started out in 2016 at Holland Dance Festival (HDF). At HDF he got to collaborate with European dance companies through iDance and he performed with The Dutch National Ballet. Through iDance he also worked with Stopgap Dance Company where he is an apprentice dancer as of 2018. Even though he is currently with Stopgap, Sand-R is still involved with HDF in 2019 and 2020 as he will tour through Europe with SALLY Dance Company.
This disabled artist is currently also involved with Moving Ground where he got to perform in public and outdoor spaces in Belgium in 2018 which is to be continued in 2019. 2019 also marked the first time Sand-R worked with Step Change Studios, for which he performed two pieces at Sadler’s Wells. Other involvements: Participant LABO, Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp; artistic research, Misiconi Dance Company; International connection, SZENE 2WEI. |
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why do you dance?
Dance is the place where body and mind of Sand-R can fuse together. It is the place where he can feel free, intrigate emotions. Sand-R just loves the stage, the buzz and the amazing energy they get from performing. "Dance is a way to express myself, lose myself and find myself again."
Why would you call yourself disabled?
The disabled community is a strong empowered community that I've come to love. Not only am I empowered with calling myself disabled, there is also recognition for heritage and how we have disadvantages the way current society has been set up (medical model vs social model). Being one of many disabled artists I am able to create work from a unique perspective and add creativity and variety to dance.
why have you included your dutch identity in your brand?
Because I want to be able to bring what I've learned about disabled community and identity back to the Netherlands and introduce more empowering language. I'm trying to introduce disabled as a Dutch word among the less empowered words we know today.
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