(Dis)Ability at Dancing Wheels A dissertation presen

485 Pages·2009·1.61 MB·English

Narrating Lives and Raising Consciousness Through Dance:
The Performance of (Dis)Ability at Dancing Wheels

A dissertation presented to
the faculty of
the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University

In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy

Margaret M. Quinlan
June 2009
© 2009 Margaret M. Quinlan. All Rights Reserved.
This dissertation titled
Narrating Lives and Raising Consciousness Through Dance:
The Performance of (Dis)Ability at Dancing Wheels

by
MARGARET M. QUINLAN

has been approved for
the School of Communication Studies
and the Scripps College of Communication by

Lynn M. Harter
Associate Professor of Communication Studies

J. W. Smith
Associate Professor of Communication Studies

Gregory J. Shepherd

Dean, Scripps College of Communication
ii
ABSTRACT
QUINLAN, MARGARET M., Ph.D., June 2009, Communication Studies
Narrating Lives and Raising Consciousness Through Dance:
The Performance of (Dis)Ability at Dancing Wheels (485 pp.)
Directors of Dissertation: Lynn M. Harter and J. W. Smith
This dissertation explores how discourses of difference sustain and disrupt the
separation and marginalization of individuals with disabilities from the world of art,
specifically dance. I enter the discussion through a case study of The Dancing Wheels
Company & School—Art in Motion in Cleveland, Ohio. Dancing Wheels is the first
modern dance company in America to integrate professional stand-up and sit-down
(wheelchair) dancers. Through its performances, this organization challenges
assumptions of difference as members perform a counter-narrative of disability. Mary
Verdi-Fletcher, President and Founding Artistic Director of The Dancing Wheels
Company & School, a pioneer in the field of integrated dance, started the company in
1980. For more than a quarter of a century, Dancing Wheels has performed, taught, and
inspired children and adults of all abilities around the world. Additionally, Dancing
Wheels provides innovative employment opportunities by supporting artistic integration
between individuals with and without disabilities. In bearing witness to the lived
experiences of artists (with and without disabilities) who have traditionally been excluded
from public discourse, I provide insight into how members organize resources (material,
corporeal, and symbolic) and aesthetic and instrumental rationalities for social change.
Using the frameworks of post-structural feminism and narrative theory, I
collected discourse related to Dancing Wheels through participant observation, in-depth
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interviews with dancers, staff and board members, and document analysis. The results of
the data collection and analysis are presented in light of three research questions: How is
disability storied and performed at Dancing Wheels?; How do the discourses of Dancing
Wheels reinscribe and/or resist dominant narratives of disability?; How do legal,
economic, and corporeal issues shape how Dancing Wheels enacts disability?
The results covered five themes: Meaning in Motion: (Re)storying Persons,
Organizations, and Publics Through Dance; The Art of Dialogue in Integrated Dance;
Aesthetic Knowledge and Sensemaking in Organizational Life at Dancing Wheels;
Science, Technology, Medicine, and the Dancing (Dis)abled Body; and Moving Through
Realms of Exclusion and Inclusion in Integrated Dance. Ultimately I argue that this
organization (re)inscribes dance and (dis)ability through dialogic, aesthetic, and
narratively based communication, performances, and practices.

Approved: _____________________________________________________________
Lynn M. Harter
Associate Professor of Communication Studies

_____________________________________________________________
J.W. Smith
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
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DEDICATION

This dissertation is dedicated to those who work to make the world more
inclusive.
A few who have influenced my life:
Lynn M. Harter, my mentor, expanded my understanding of what it means to live with a
disability;
Jack and Marty Quinlan, my parents, were my first disability advocates;
Mrs. Sharon Wickland (1937-2008), my resource room teacher, taught me that having
disability does not mean you are any less of a person;
Mrs. Jane Mathias, my high school guidance counselor, taught me to advocate for
myself;
Laura Ellingson, my academic auntie, taught me that our bodies have a lot to teach us;
Mary Verdi-Fletcher, President and Founding Artistic Director of the Dancing Wheels
Company & School, taught me about what an integrated society can be.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“No story sits by itself. Sometimes stories meet at corners and sometimes they cover one
another completely, likes stones beneath a river” (Albom, 2003, p. 10).

I’m working on a dream
Though sometimes it feels so far away
I'm working on a dream
And I know it will be mine someday
Rain pourin’ down, I swing my hammer
My hands are rough from working on a dream
I'm working on a dream—Bruce Springsteen

My story does not stand alone, I humbly stand with many stories of love and
support as I worked on this dissertation, my dream:
To my dearest mentor, Lynn M. Harter, who guided me along every step (bird by
bird) even before I arrived at Ohio University. It was an honor to be able to grow with
you. With your love and generosity, I have learned so much and have been challenged in
ways that I have never imagined possible. I have a richer understanding of the world from
my feminist, narrative, dialogic, and aesthetic sensibilities—all inspired by our shared
passion of social justice. Every precious minute you put into me as a person and my
scholarship has shaped the person I am and continue to be—I look forward to the ways in
which our relationship will grow and shift as we continue to co-learn together. I suspect
we are both a good tired.
J.W. Smith, thank you for providing support since I started at Ohio University.
Benjamin R. Bates, it has been a pleasure to work with you these past four years, I
appreciate your continued help with developing my argumentation skills.
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Marina Walchli, thank you for helping me make sense of the beauty of integrated
dance.
B. Scott Titsworth, your support throughout this whole process has meant a great
deal. I was always able to come to you and receive honest and reliable feedback. You
really care about graduate students and work to make Lasher Hall a welcoming place.
To my mother and father, Marty and Jack Quinlan, “Can you believe I AM going to be a
DOCTOR?” I admire your willingness let me follow my dreams and your help and love
along the way.
To Bridget and Michael, I am blessed to have you for siblings. Andrew, welcome
to our family!
Aunt Kathy Spicciati, my most meticulous editor, you never miss a “colon” or a
“comma.” I have learned so much through your editorial comments.
To the Haff family (Kathy, Bob, Krissy, and Derek), thank you for your love—I
am blessed to have Cape Cod as a second home.
Marie Thompson, trusted friend and workout partner, I feel blessed to have done
this journey with you—you are an inspiration and I appreciate your loving advice,
inspiring stories, and commitment to relationships.
Joe Mazer, my fantastic job coach and friend, thank you for your willingness to
work closely with me as I worked through graduate school.
To some voices which have been part of my journey: Jim Query, Laura Ellingson,
Arvind Singhal, Jennifer Bute, Bill Rawlins, Maureen Angell, Marina Peterson, and
Tresa Randall.
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To my colleagues: Natalie Shubert, Courtney Cole, Casey Hayward, Melissa
Brockelman-Post, Heather Carmack, Anne Gerbensky-Kerber, Laura Russell, Tim
Pollock, Karen Greiner, Kallia Wright,Virginia Layaco, Jennifer Dunn, and Stephanie
Norander for making my graduate work a meaningful experience.
My friends, Julie Mooney, Sean Condon, Ellen Fabiano, Cara O’Connor, Jayme
Feldman, Katie Gaughan, and Kelly Roberts for continuing to work on long-distance
friendships with me. In an ideal world, we would all be neighbors.
Finally, I would like to thank The Dancing Wheels Company & School for
allowing me to be part of your organization. I admire the work you do and hope my
research continues to help you make space for alternative understandings of disability.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii
Dedication ........................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. vi
List of Figures .................................................................................................................. xiii
Chapter One: ....................................................................................................................... 1
Problem Statement .............................................................................................................. 1
Historical Overview of Employment Among People With Disabilities ......................... 7
Organizations with Dance and Disability Missions ...................................................... 10
Dance for People with Disabilities ........................................................................... 11
Collaborative Dance and Disability Mission ............................................................ 12
An Overview of Dancing Wheels ................................................................................. 15
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter Two: .................................................................................................................... 21
A Post-Structural Feminist and Narrative Theoretical Standpoint ................................... 21
Post-structural Feminism as a Way of Knowing .......................................................... 21
Discourse and Materiality ......................................................................................... 25
Subjectivities ............................................................................................................. 29
Knowledge, Meaning, and Power ............................................................................. 32
Difference ................................................................................................................. 34
Social Change ........................................................................................................... 37
Narrative Theory and Praxis: Narrative as a Way of Knowing .................................... 40
Narratives as a Way of Knowing .............................................................................. 41
The Narrative Formation of Identities and Groups ................................................... 48
Narratives, Consciousness Raising, and Social Movements .................................... 51
Storied Performances of the Body (Culturally) Marked as Disabled ........................... 56
ix
An Historical Overview ............................................................................................ 56
Contemporary Cultural Understandings of Health and Healing ............................... 60
Disability Culture and Embodied Social Movements ............................................... 63
Summary and Research Questions ............................................................................... 68
Chapter Three: .................................................................................................................. 72
Interpretive Methodology ................................................................................................. 72
Ethnographically Inspired Research Design ................................................................. 73
Researcher’s Role and Reflexivity ............................................................................ 76
Aesthetics and Ethnography ..................................................................................... 78
Setting and Participants ............................................................................................. 81
Consent/Confidentiality ............................................................................................ 87
Discourse Collection Procedures .................................................................................. 87
Participant Observation ............................................................................................. 87
In-depth Interviews ................................................................................................... 90
Organizational Documents ........................................................................................ 92
Discourse Analysis ....................................................................................................... 92
Member Checking and Conceptualization of Rigor ..................................................... 94
Summary ....................................................................................................................... 95
Chapter Four: .................................................................................................................... 96
Analysis............................................................................................................................. 96
Meaning in Motion: (Re)storying Persons, Organizations, and Publics Through Dance
.................................................................................................................................... 100
No Story Stands Alone: Mary Verdi-Fletcher ........................................................ 101
Verdi-Fletcher’s Dream Comes Alive: The Birth of Dancing Wheels ................... 106
Mobilizing Narrative(s) of The Dancing Wheels Company & School ................... 129
Dance as Storytelling for Social Movements .......................................................... 141
The Art of Dialogue in Integrated Dance ................................................................... 152
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