Event Details

Obliterating assumptions of what dance, beauty, and disability can be, this duet takes audiences on a transformative ride. DESCENT reimagines the Rodin sculpture of Greek mythological figures Venus and Andromeda as a love story for two women. Dancers Alice Sheppard and Laurel Lawson traverse a stage built with hills and curves that acts as a partner in the choreography and storytelling. The duo claim their desire as their wheelchairs fly within inches of the ramp’s edges, moving together and apart in a lushly lit landscape created through breathtaking projections by Michael Maag. DESCENT won Dance Magazine’s 2018 Reader’s Choice award for Most Moving Performance. Learn more about Laurel Lawson's path to becoming a professional dancer and the story behind the creation of DESCENT in her interview with Lois Reitzes of WABE's City Lights.

Georgia Tech students enjoy $10 tickets and faculty/staff receive a 20% discount when they visit the Ferst Center Box Office, Monday-Friday 11 a.m. - 5p.m.

Kinetic Light will be in residence on the Georgia Tech campus all week prior to their performance of DESCENT. On November 20, please join us for a fascinating talk by Alice Sheppard. This event is open to the public and seating is limited.

Disability, Arts, and Culture
Wednesday, November 20 at 5:30 p.m.
Ferst Center for the Arts

Get an insider’s view of DESCENT with this seminar. Alice Sheppard shares some of her research findings and choreographic processes, as well as some of the secrets of how the piece came to be made. Learn more about conversations in disability art and aesthetics, the importance of race and queerness in DESCENT, and get the backstory about the ramp. Spot which of Auguste Rodin’s sculptures appear in the projections and in the movement vocabulary and learn about the work that went into Kinetic Light’s innovative approach to description for blind and nonvisual audiences with the collective’s groundbreaking new app, Audimance.

The Ferst Center for the Arts is ADA compliant for all events; additional accessibility for DESCENT will include an American Sign Language interpreter present at the performance, large format program notes, and Audimance, an immersive audio/narration made especially for this work available for patrons’ mobile devices. Blind and visually impaired audience members are asked to bring their mobile phone and non-Bluetooth earbuds or headphones. There will be a table in the lobby where we will demo the Audimance audio description app, help with downloads, and share the tactile experience that goes along with it. Learn more about Audimance here.

To request accessibility services or purchase wheelchair-accessible seating, please call the Ferst Center for the Arts box office at 404.894.9600, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

This presentation of DESCENT is made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Funding for this program is provided by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. 

Kinetic Light Funders:

DESCENT was made possible, in part, by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. General Operating support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; The MAP Fund, supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Dance/NYC’s Disability. Dance. Artistry Fund, made possible by the Ford Foundation with additional support provided by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation; and the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography at Florida State University. Kinetic Light researched, developed and honed DESCENT with financial, administrative and residency support from the Dance in Process program at Gibney Dance with funds provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. DESCENT was also supported by Dancers’ Group’s CA$H grant program, the Awesome Foundation, Puffin Foundation West, Ltd., and the Yip Harburg Foundation.