Emily Dash | The Last Avant Garde Project

Do you identify as disabled and/or Deaf and/or with disability?

YES

Other identity/ies? Intersectionalities you may like to declare (not compulsory) eg, POC, queer etc

Queer

Why do you do what you do?

For me, the purpose of art is not just to reveal your own truth, but to do so in a way that motivates others to connect with something in theirs. Creativity is about pushing boundaries and empowering others.

Contacts:

emily.l.dash@gmail.com

What are you looking for?

Paid Work Only, more funding, producing training, production team building, a more level playing field, world creative revolution, better access to classes and spaces.

What’s still with you from the workshops? What do you remember?

I think the workshops were a really great initiative that connected artists with disabilities to each other and facilitated great activities/conversations that allowed us to articulate some of the successes and challenges we encounter in the industry.

What’s the legacy for you - creatively or with contacts?

The workshops definitely cemented my relationships with various contacts and so I think that was the legacy for me.

What makes a good workshop for you?

Effective facilitators and participants who are engaged and willing to take risks and be vulnerable, surrendering to the creative process.

The arts industry and you - how do you feel about where you are professionally? Where would you like to be?

I’m in a very unique position in that I am only in my eighth year of professional practise but I am already generating enough work to support myself full time as a creative artist. In saying that, there are obviously many challenges and barriers that I have faced throughout my career but I feel like I am becoming more resilient as time goes on. I’ve finished a successful season of my debut play Freefall, which was a culmination of a two-year residency program. It was very well-reviewed and I feel like it was seen as not just a work about disability so I am feeling very good about that. In terms of where I would like to be in the next couple of years, my passion for playwriting has definitely been ignited and I have ideas for what my next two plays will be.