The ArtsAbility Festival at Cape Town’s Artscape Theatre Centre is a five-day event spotlighting performances by dancers with and without disabilities.
The festival started on Wednesday, 29 November, and will finish on Sunday, 3 December. It includes workshops, a conference and theatre performances.
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This year, the festival is happening alongside the seventh African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) Conference.
Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for community services and health, Patricia van der Ross, noted the City’s dedication to inclusive and opportunity-rich arts programmes.
‘The City is committed to supporting programmes that are not only inclusive but that provide opportunities for participants to showcase their talent. Art brings us together, helps us communicate and understand our world, and allows us to be open to new ideas and experiences. Artscape continues to break barriers, and the City is proud to fund programmes that allow all our residents to be a part of the arts,’ she said.

The Artscape is committed to making the arts accessible to all residents. One of the festival’s highlights includes works developed during a three-week-long ArtsAbility residency and a collaborative piece by Unmute Dance Theatre with Scottish youth.
Founded in 2013, Unmute Dance Theatre stands out for its inclusive approach, integrating physical theatre, contemporary dance and sign language dance.
The theatre focuses on promoting accessibility and mainstream integration for people with disabilities.
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The AfriNEAD Conference is a Stellenbosch University initiative to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities through networking and research.
This year’s ArtsAbility Residency Programme, led by Unmute Dance Theatre, fostered collaborations among diverse artists, choreographers and directors, culminating in two performances set for Saturday, 2 December.
Artscape’s commitment extends beyond events. It has made structural changes like lowering bars for wheelchair users and special navigation aids for the partially sighted, ensuring an inclusive and accessible arts environment.
‘Our structural changes include lowering bars for wheelchair users, a special carpet for partially sighted persons to navigate their way around the different theatres, the loop system for hard-of-hearing people to cut out the white noise in the theatres, a comfort room for parents with children with disabilities when they need privacy to feed, and a patron using a body bag to have privacy, to name a few,’ said Dr Marlene le Roux, the CEO of the Artscape.
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Picture: City of Cape Town