Alice Sheppard, Artistic Director of Kinetic Light, to deliver Riley Lecture

Alfred University’s spring Riley Lecture, featuring Alice Sheppard, will be held on April 13 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm.

Sheppard, Artistic Director of Kinetic Light, a leading disability arts ensemble, will speak on the relationship between disabilities and culture in dance in her lecture, Our World Runs Deep: Intersectional Disability Aesthetics and Culture.

As a Bessie Award-winning choreographer, Sheppard creates movement that challenges conventional understandings of disabled and dancing bodies. Engaging disability arts, culture, and history, she is intrigued by the intersections of disability, gender, and race.

“For whom do we tell our disability stories?” she asks. “The newly reemerging disability arts movement resoundingly refutes mainstream contemporary narratives of disability, diversity, and inclusion.”

Sheppard studied ballet and modern dance with Kitty Lunn and made her debut with Infinity Dance Theater. After an apprenticeship, she joined AXIS Dance Company, where she toured and taught in the company’s education and outreach programs.

As an independent artist, Sheppard has danced in projects with Ballet Cymru, GDance, and Marc Brew Company in the U.K. and Full Radius Dance, Marjani Forté, MBDance, Infinity Dance Theater, and Steve Paxton in the U.S. Her choreography has been commissioned by Full Radius Dance, CRIPSiE, and MOMENTA.

In addition to performance and choreography, Sheppard is a sought-after speaker and has lectured on topics related to disability arts, race, and dance. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and in academic journals.

To register and obtain Zoom presentation information for Sheppard’s lecture, please contact Cecilia Beach.