Victoria Aslanides, Director of Education at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
WHAT IS THE NEA BIG READ?
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read aims to inspire meaningful conversations, artistic responses, and new discoveries and connections in our community. It’s designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our neighbors, and ourselves through the power of a shared reading experience. We selected Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, a memoir-in-essays by Rebekah Taussig.
WHY DID YOU SELECT SITTING PRETTY?
Sitting Pretty was written by a woman who is a wheelchair user and has paralysis resulting from childhood cancer. However, those are only facets of her as a whole person. She tells stories of her experiences with humor, empathy, and humanity that make it relatable for just about anyone. Through our education programs, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC) often works with students with a variety of disabilities so Sitting Pretty spoke to us immediately.
WHY DID YOU APPLY FOR THE GRANT?
It allows us to partner with other community organizations and provide educational programming aligned with our mission. A few of the NEA Big Read programs will take place at Ensemble Theatre, but most will be at partner locations.
HOW CAN PEOPLE PARTICIPATE?
We kicked off our events on Sept. 18 and have more planned through June 2023. This includes book discussions with Dr. Taussig, a documentary screening, creative performances and more. We hope people of all ages will read together, learn from and with one another, gain a sense of empathy and an understanding that disability is never the only thing that defines a person.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO BRING THESE PROGRAMS TO CINCINNATI?
At ETC, we strive to offer programming that reflects the diversity of our community. Representation matters, and we’re excited to highlight the strengths & contributions of people with disabilities. However, it’s also important to bring awareness to the ways our society still stigmatizes disability, how our built environments and social structures can exclude people with disabilities, and how we can take action to create a more inclusive community in our neighborhoods, our region, and beyond!
Learn more at ensemblecincinnati.org.
