From the Accessible Seat: How to Dance in Ohio
Heading to see How to Dance in Ohio at the Belasco Theatre, I asked myself the same question I do every time I attend a performance or event: "Will the space be accessible enough to meet my needs?” I had attended performances at the Belasco before and encountered accessibility issues. However, as I arrived at the theatre, I was struck by an immediate sense of community that made me think this time would be different. I could tell that many people in line had already seen the show before, and knowing we were all there for the same reasons, I felt a part of the “in crowd.”
How to Dance in Ohio first emerged as a documentary in 2015, following the journey of teens and young adults from Columbus, OH, all on the autism spectrum, and their challenges and triumphs as they prepare for their first formal dance. These teens and young adults are all patients of Dr. Emilio Amigo, who notices that none of his patients has ever attended a formal dance, a typical milestone for most teens. As a result, Dr. Amigo takes the initiative to host a formal for them, giving them the perfect opportunity to face many of their anxieties and insecurities and ultimately showcase their newfound confidence and social skills.
We’ve all seen numerous musicals adapted from books and movies, but I was unsure what to expect from an adapted documentary as they are more factual than emotional. However, as the philosopher Marshall McLuhan insisted, “the medium is the message,” and How to Dance in Ohio, the musical, took the example of ableism presented in the documentary and provided space for the characters to experience and, most importantly, reflect on their experiences. The difference between watching the documentary and the musical is that the musical will show rather than tell. The musical slows down the pacing of the stories presented in the documentary and allows the audience to dive into the profound emotional significance of these experiences of ableism.
As we settled into our seats, a disclaimer was played over the speakers stating that while the show was based on real-life events, the writers took creative liberties with the stories from the documentary. One scene in which I was sure this was the case followed Jessica, one of Dr. Amigo’s patients, as she worked at her job, where she had been placed through a work program specifically for individuals with disabilities. In the scene, Jessica’s boss directs her to answer the store’s phone, but when she declines, her boss reprimands her for acting as if she is above the task. In reality, Jessica does not perceive social cues in the way a non-disabled individual might and, therefore, feels ill-equipped to handle interpersonal interactions over the phone. To Jessica, refusing this request is simply a pragmatic response, but when telling the job program’s coach about the incident, she was told that her function as an employee is to work and do what is asked of her. I couldn’t believe such a scenario could exist where even the program's coach was so callous, but when I went to rewatch the documentary, I was reminded that this detail, sadly, was reality.
However, the writers take the artistic license to create space for the characters to name their lived experiences. In the musical, Dr. Emilio Amigo’s character is expanded upon, ultimately creating tension that allows the disabled characters to call out the ableism they experience. Without his patients’ knowledge, Dr. Amigo speaks to the local press about the dance, leading them to create clickbait, which follows a myriad of disability tropes, such as inspiration porn. This allows the characters to directly call out the quiet parts of the disability experience using terms like ableism and slogans like “nothing about us without us.” The way they react to these events uses language that the disability community has specifically coined to advocate for policy change which gives the show an inherently political dimension. While I didn’t expect the show to address this, I found it both bold and necessary.
In another scene, a poignant moment unfolds as two mothers accompany their daughters' dress shopping for a dance, reflecting on this milestone in their daughters' lives through a heartfelt duet. Despite lacking the words, during this duet, they grapple with the concept of "crip time," realizing that disabled individuals reach significant milestones differently. Through this scene, the two mothers are coming to understand the multifaceted impacts of a disability. With the emotional impact of music, How to Dance in Ohio achieves a level of nuance that many struggle to convey.
The beauty of both musicals and opera is the creativity in storytelling and the emotional impact that can be found through the musical elements of both. How to Dance in Ohio was able to address concepts so familiar to the disabled community, such as ableism and crip time, in a way that was accessible to all audiences. Better yet, with all the autistic characters being played by autistic actors, How to Dance in Ohio is an excellent example of the incredible works that can be created when disabled individuals are a part of sharing disabled stories. In the few instances in which there are disabled characters in opera, they are generally tropey in nature. Examples of this are the grand inquisitor in Don Carlos is blind, and his blindness is used as a marker of his villainy or the paralyzed man at the center of Breaking the Waves, which has a very uncomfortable and misogynistic cure narrative. How to Dance in Ohio excites me because of the potential we have within the opera community for sharing the large variety of disabled experiences.
