Performance Transcript: Opening Remarks

Hello everyone, and welcome to Northrop. My name is Kristen. I’m Northrop’s director of artistic and community programs, and I’m delighted to welcome you. 

I’d like to begin this welcome with gratitude that this performance is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Thank you, Minnesota voters. Northrop is part of a public university, rooted in Minnesota, and we are very proud of and thankful for our place here. We also acknowledge that this place that many of us call home has a complex and layered history, and not everyone has been served and treated equally throughout that history. Northrop is located on the contemporary, traditional, and ancestral homelands of the Dakota people. We seek to show up in support of Native and Indigenous Artists, and land acknowledgment is one of the ways we educate our campus and community about our relationships with the land and each other. We are also responding to our history by welcoming EVERYONE to Northrop. You belong here, whether you’re here for the first time or have been attending for decades.

Let’s have a show of hands - how many of you are here at Northrop for the first time? Regulars, thank you for your long-time support, and please help us welcome our newcomers today. 

We’re thrilled to welcome Dance Theatre of Harlem back after a few years, and they’ve put together a stellar program of classical and new ballets for you. 

We’re especially excited to be hosting a relaxed matinee with Dance Theater of Harlem, and we’ve been learning a lot about relaxed and sensory-friendly performances from our partners at Autism Society of Minnesota. It’s my pleasure to welcome our AuSM partner, Jillian.

Hello Everyone! I am Jillian Nelson from the Autism Society and I am so excited to be here tonight to help Northrop celebrate their inaugural relaxed sensory friendly performance. 

As an autistic adult myself, I am very familiar with the sensory challenges that come with navigating our world, all too often accessibility does not go beyond the things considered “necessities” like schools, hospitals, and parking… Too often people with disabilities are left out of the spaces where life is truly lived, places like the arts. 

But today we welcome you to this space exactly as you are, to experience the beauty and wonder of dance and culture as your most authentic self. You belong here, and we welcome you with open arms. 

The “relaxed” components we have for this matinee are:

-A sensory lounge located next to the atrium. If you exit the doors at the rear of the main floor, it will be on your left.

-Feel free to move in the audience as you need, including coming/going, walking about or changing your seat as needed.

-The house lights will be at a glow for the first and last ballets - the theater will be dark for the middle two ballets for artistic reasons, if you need lights our ushers will have battery-operated lights for you at intermission. 

-The performers will dance with their usual passion and energy but for this show the sound is lower than usual.

-Our tactile exhibit will be available in the lobby for intermissions, allowing you to enjoy the sensory pleasure of touching costumes close up. 

-And lastly- this is a safe space, a space where as an audience we commit to not just celebrate the performers, but to celebrate the diversity and wide array of access needs filling this room. 

If at any time you need support please ask an usher or myself and we will be happy to do what we can to make this a great experience. 

Thank you for being here with us today, thank you for being yourself in this space and thank you for showing one another kindness and understanding as we experience the magic of The Dance Theatre of Harlem together.