Atta and Integrated dance 2023

As part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3, the Danish Cultural Institute came together with Atta Festival and organized new activities at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum to raise awareness about children with disabilities. Among the games prepared for children were “The Elephant Hatching from the Egg” and “Poggle”. While the little audience was sometimes an interactive part of the play, sometimes they watched what was happening on the stage with pure attention.

Janne W. Kristiansen, the artistic director of the Integrated Modern Dance School, which has been operating in Copenhagen for ten years and focuses on dancing with people with disabilities, made a presentation for artistic professional groups working with children with disabilities and held hands-on workshops. Integrated dance, whose starting point is “anybody with any body”, creates the opportunity to dance freely without any expectations in an environment that includes everyone.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated with a ceremony in a festive atmosphere at Gülseren Özdemir Special Education School, where our second study took place. In the school, which was decorated with colorful balloons, we witnessed beautiful songs, poems and dance performances with students, their families and teachers. We had fun at the exhibitions of children’s creative works and Janne W. Kristiansen’s dance workshop.