South Philly Review

Rebecca Davis Dance Company principal dancers Caitlin Scranton and Sean Whiteman are set to perform in the premiere of "Helen Keller," the first ballet to explore the disabled community through dance.

photo credit: Photo by Greg Bezanis

headline: Access granted

headline: A month-long festival celebrating disability arts and culture is the first of its kinds and several local artists are helping out the cause.

By Caitlin Meals

-->

Mimi Kenney Smith's mother had her leg amputated before Smith -- the oldest of 13 children -- was born. Several of Smith's aunts and uncles were blind or deaf and other relatives -- all living in the area -- were born with Down syndrome or autism.

Despite what her family faced, her childhood at 23rd and Lombard streets was no different than any other, she said.

Except for one thing.

"Our only problem was access," the now 58-year-old said, describing her relatives' difficulty going to events and completing errands.

In 1999, Smith, along with husband Stephen Patrick Smith and Linda Merians, founded the Amaryllis Theatre Company.

Smith immediately began building partnerships throughout the artistic and disabled worlds -- a practice that became all the more crucial when, three years later, Smith was diagnosed with post-polio syndrome having suffered from the viral infection of the nervous system at age 12.

"It's funny because I sort of started my own support system," the Sharon Hill resident who uses crutches to get around said. "When I went back to work, people knew exactly what I was going through -- they'd give me little tips about how to move through the world."

Later classified as VSA arts of Pennsylvania under the statewide VSA arts -- a nonprofit working to help those with disabilities learn through, participate in and enjoy the arts -- Smith is sponsoring the first "Independence Starts Here: A Festival of Disability Arts and Culture." During its Oct. 18 to Nov. 20 run, the festival will spread the word of accessibility awareness throughout the city while tapping into local artists.

"I have great memories of Philadelphia," she said, citing the restaurants she and her family still visit in the Italian Market. "I think I've always felt really comfortable in Philadelphia -- it's a warm, welcoming city and I've always trusted the people. I really never had any fears about getting people together and working together; I assumed that was always going to work."

The festival stems from an initiative of the same name Smith started in 2003 to connect the artistic and disabled communities through roundtable discussions that eventually evolved into this year's festival.

"We'd talk about challenges," she said of the meetings. "The disabled community would say, 'this is what keeps me from going,' and the arts would explain, 'this is what keeps me from providing accessibility,' and we brought in national experts to help us come to a solution."

Since then, she said, many theaters and venues have adapted to their audiences by offering captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing, and audio descriptions for the blind and visually impaired.