Tampa-based REVolutions Dance Company brought its artistry to four cities in Poland this week, performing and teaching classes in Krakow, Bytom, Warsaw and Radom. Founded in 2005, REVolutions is an integrated company that brings together dancers with and without disabilities to raise awareness of the artistic contributions of people with disabilities through performance and education. The company spent their first week in Krakow where they taught “mixed abilities” dance to Polish participants from the Foundation for Active Rehabilitation, and to several school and community groups. In Bytom, REVolutions delivered a master class to Integra, a dance and movement group which fosters integration between abled-bodied persons and persons with disabilities. These workshops culminated in a public dance performance in Krakow, which was attended by Krakow’s Deputy Mayor and the city’s Plenipotentiary for Persons with Disabilities.
In Warsaw, the dancers worked with students with and without disabilities to create a joint performance at Primary School 41, the first school in the city to institute integrated classes. In addition, REVolutions led classes for students of dance at Chopin University of Music and undergraduates studying special education at Maria Grzegórzewska University. They spent their last day in Radom, where they taught classes for clients of “We’re Building a Haven,” a center for people with cerebral palsy, and students of a local integrated high school, and then led a discussion at American Corner Radom.