Access is a tool for collective liberation. Disability Justice is central to Rehearsing Freedoms as it teaches us that “no body or mind can be left behind – only moving together can we accomplish the revolution we require”.

Rehearsing Freedoms is designed using the principles of Disability Justice – bringing creativity and flexibility to find ways to be in community with each other.

For us, practicing Disability Justice in real-time means creativity in navigating our current context and conditions, learning and unlearning, getting things wrong and being accountable.

While we recognise that there’s no single experience of accessibility, accessibility has deeply informed how we’ve designed the festival.  

For our venues, we have worked with disabled access consultants.

For our website, we worked with an accessibility working group to prototype navigating accessible information. This group included Kaiya Waerea, Ebony Rose, Dark V.I.P Cabaret and Dance Performance Artist, and Vijay Patel, Performance artist, Access consultant and Thinker in Residence at Colchester Arts Centre among others who wished not to be named.

For more information about how accessibility shaped the design of the festival brand and website, please contact Studio Hyte.

Covid

REHEARSING COMMUNITY CARE 

We’re updating our Covid-19 policy for Rehearsing Freedoms festival. We deeply appreciate those of you who have reached out to us about mandatory masking at our events. 

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has led to mass disablement and death, disproportionately impacting global majority and disabled folks. We refuse to overlook or forget the grief and struggle resulting from the pandemic, and the state negligence and violence that has surrounded the virus. 

In line with our commitment to disability justice, we are rehearsing solidarity and community care, by asking you to join us in taking greater precautions around the virus. Solidarity is a practice – we need to rehearse it together.

Masking 

We request that everyone wear a mask for all of our indoor events, unless exempt. All of our team will be wearing masks. Our stewards will be handing out masks at all entrances. Understanding that this may pose a barrier for people who lip-read, we will have BSL interpretation for all of our panel discussions. Panellists and workshop leaders may remove masks when speaking. We understand that this may not be possible at all times, especially for events that involve dancing, physical activity, or eating and drinking.

For certain events, such as music or those that involve physical activity, we anticipate that people may not wear masks at all times and in all spaces, which may be beyond our control. We want to move from a place of trust instead of assumptions about why people are not able to wear masks. We encourage our community to use your discernment in accessing the space. We trust that you will stay in alignment with our collective commitments as much as possible. 

Testing

We ask that everyone test before attending a Rehearsing Freedoms event.

Symptoms 

If you are experiencing Covid symptoms, please do not attend events and cancel your tickets to allow folks from the waitlists an opportunity to attend. Please do not come to further events until you are symptom-free and have had several negative tests. If you are unsure, err on the side of caution. 

If you start to feel unwell while at a Rehearsing Freedoms event, please keep your mask on and exit the space. Many of our events will be hybrid, and panel discussions will be livestreamed and recorded to limit the possibility of people missing out.

Ventilation

At each site  we will be making sure we have airflow wherever possible. Please consider bringing extra layers of clothing to account for potential lower indoor temperatures.

If you have any concerns or feel that any of this conflicts with your access needs, please do reach out to us info@healingjusticeldn.org.