Inclusive Soundscapes

Vulnerable cosmologies. From exclusionary inclusion to radical support
Through the sharing of practical cases from the Spanish context, embodied experiences, the sharing of works of art and collective exercises, this session seeks to help us identify the limits of traditional cultural inclusion policies and move towards radical support for audiences and artists who are discriminated against because of their reduced mobility or visual or auditory diversity.
We will address the symbolic, architectural and functional dimensions that come into play in the relationship between the art world and corpo/neuro/divergent communities, in order to move beyond ticking boxes.

Costa Badía holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and a master’s degree in Art Education in Social and Cultural Institutions, both from the Complutense University of Madrid. She worked for four years in the educational department of the Reina Sofía National Art Museum in Madrid, where she was responsible for cultural mediation and programming for people with disabilities. She is currently involved in several projects, including an artist and educator residency at Matadero in Madrid, the design of a physical space dedicated to art and disability, various accessibility consulting assignments for art centers, and her doctoral studies in Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). She has presented performances at the Reina Sofía Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, the CA2M, the MUSAC, and Almacén in Lanzarote. She also gives lectures in various master’s programs and museums on cultural mediation and the inclusion of people with disabilities in cultural spaces. Her works are included in the collections of Ana de Alvear, Marina Vargas, and CA2M, among others. Her artistic approach aims to value error and challenge stereotypes of beauty and behavior. She explores alternative paths by studying the coexistence between normative and non-normative people.

Carlos Almela is a curator and cultural mediator, member of the Hablarenarte association, and author of the book Philanthropie bâtarde. He coordinates the master’s degree in cultural management at Carlos III University in Madrid, and is also director of hangar, an artistic production center (Barcelona), and member of the scientific council of Laboral, a center for artistic and industrial creation (Gijón). He holds degrees in political science (Sciences Po Paris), philosophy (Paris I – Sorbonne), and business administration, with a specialization in cultural management (ESCP Europe). Since 2013, he has been working at the intersection of art, education, and social action. Before joining hablarenarte, he directed the Citizen Art program of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation in Spain, a philanthropic organization focused on social change. He is the author of the book Bastard Philanthropy. Author of For a Patronage Committed to Social Justice (2025), published by the Círculo de Bellas Artes, and editor of Vulnerable Cosmologies: Artistic Practices, Care, and Functional Diversity (2025), published by Catarata.

The training day will provide an opportunity to explore Alice Davazoglou’s dance career and highlight the artistic and political issues it raises. Alice Davazoglou (choreographer), Céline Luc (artistic director and president of the A Ciel Ouvert company), Mélanie Giffard (choreographic assistant) and Françoise Davazoglou (accompanist and dance researcher) will take turns speaking to shed light on the various dynamics, encounters and stages that have marked this journey. Through experimentation, exchanges, testimonials and conceptual contributions, the various speakers will shed light on the inventions that were necessary to build Alice Davazoglou’s career, as well as the preconceptions and unspoken assumptions that still lead to a scarcity of creations by authors with mental disabilities.

Alice Davazoglou studied dance at the Laon Conservatory for twelve years. She then participated in numerous workshops (Agnès Coutard, Clara Cornil, Mylène Benoît, Mickaël Phelippeau, Cathy Polo, Xavier Lot, Blandine Minot, Laurence Pagès, etc.) as well as amateur choreographic projects such as Julie Nioche’s Sysiphes, Danse en chansons by Daniel Larrieu, and Planetary Dance by Hanna Halprin under the guidance of Clara Cornil. Since 2010, she has been attending regular dance workshops led by Nathalie Hervé, notably at the ART21 association, of which she is a founding member and vice president. Within ART21, she has been co-leading workshops for children in schools, after-school programs, and associations since September 2013. In 2017, she obtained accreditation from the French Ministry of Education to teach dance in primary schools. She has co-led workshops for teachers, educational advisors, assistants to children with disabilities, and Master’s students in dance at the University of Paris 8. She worked under the direction of Nathalie Hervé on the creation of a solo piece, Universalice, and she also dances in several of Nathalie Hervé’s pieces that originated in the ART21 choreography workshops. She is currently performing in Mickaël Phelippeau’s latest creation, a choreographic double portrait entitled De Françoise à Alice. She is the author of a two-volume work, Je suis trisomique normale mais ordinaire (I am normal but ordinary with Down syndrome) and Je suis Alice Davazoglou (I am Alice Davazoglou), published in November 2020, for which she received a dance research grant from the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin. Based on the portraits in her book, in September 2024 she created Danser ensemble (Dancing Together), her first piece as a choreographer, for which she brought together 10 renowned choreographers as performers.

Céline Luc and Alice Davazoglou met in 2007 at L’échangeur / CDCN des Hauts-de-France, where Céline was in charge of regional relations and Alice was an amateur dancer in Laon. They met through various artistic and cultural education projects, particularly teacher training programs for current and future teachers led by Françoise Davazoglou at the IUFM. In 2013, Céline took over coordination and administration for the Petites Scènes Ouvertes network. At the same time, she helped create La Ruse, a company supporting Bérénice Legrand’s choreographic projects. As treasurer, she handled the administrative side of things until June 2017, when she became an employee of the association. In September 2019, she took on the role of general secretary and is responsible for developing activities, while continuing her work with the Les Petites Scènes Ouvertes network as production director. At the same time, she is following the activities and career of Alice Davazoglou in Laon (within the ART21 association) and then in creation and on tour with Mickaël Phelippeau. In 2022, inspired by Alice’s strong desire to become a choreographer, Céline co-founded A Ciel Ouvert, an association whose purpose is to promote, support, and raise awareness of projects by artists with mental disabilities. She serves as the association’s president. The association’s first project is Alice’s Danser Ensemble, a show that premiered in September 2024 and is currently on tour. The association’s activities revolve around supporting Alice’s professional career as a choreographer.

Françoise Davazoglou is a primary school teacher and trainer. She became involved in dance, alongside her own enthusiastic amateur practice, through the “Dance at School” projects and training courses initiated by Marcelle Bonjour. In 2002, she became a “dance resource person” at the IUFM (University Institute for Teacher Training) and then at the ESPE (Higher School of Teaching and Education) in Laon. She has led projects for both elementary school students and teachers in initial or continuing training. Since 1998, she has been working closely with L’Echangeur, CDCN des Hauts de France, to set up artistic and cultural education programs. These projects have provided opportunities to collaborate with numerous dancers and choreographers (Laurence Bertagnol, Catherine Contour, Karine Ponties, Clara Cornil, Marinette Dozeville, Pal Frenak, Daniel Larrieu, Xavier Lot, Cathy Polo, Luc Petton, Laurence Rondoni, Cie Irène Tassembedo, Mickaël Phelippeau, Mié Coquempot, etc.). Since 2010, she has been enrolled in a university program at Paris 8 University and defended her thesis, “Dance and Disability: What Powers to Act?” under the supervision of Isabelle Ginot in February 2015. This research questions the processes that enable dancers with and without disabilities to work, think, and create together, and attempts to identify the powers to act on the “disabled condition” that these processes can develop. Since 2013, she has been involved in projects with ART21, an association of which she is a founding member and which aims to encourage and promote the practices of dancers with mental disabilities. Since 2020, she has been performing in Mickaël Phelippeau’s choreographic double portrait, De Françoise à Alice.

This workshop explores co-creation practices with vulnerable populations, particularly those from migrant backgrounds, combining theory and experimentation. We will first lay the theoretical and practical foundations for the aesthetic power of everyday gestures, considered as performative acts that enable us to work with non-artists and reveal the creativity present in the simple gestures of everyday life. We will then address the ethical principles of research-creation applied to the performing arts, based on the frameworks developed in the European TransMigrARTS project, by presenting the establishment of an ethical and bioethical space for care and well-being structured in three stages: before the workshop (preparation of the conditions for the encounter), during the workshop (attention and precautions necessary for conducting a performing arts workshop) and after the workshop (future prospects, extensions and post-creation care). The entire workshop will alternate between theory and practice and will conclude with a group discussion to share experiences, feelings and avenues for further research opened up by the session.

Juliana Marín Taborda is a visual artist, teacher, and researcher. She is currently pursuing a double doctorate in arts and philosophy at the University of Antioquia and the University Jean Jaurès in Toulouse. She has taught at the University of Antioquia and the University of San Buenaventura. She has coordinated cultural projects focused on research-creation and social transformation through art. Her work has been exhibited in Colombia and Europe. She has received several awards, including the ICETEX Artistas Jóvenes Talento scholarship and an honorable mention for her thesis at the University of Antioquia. She has published several articles on research-creation, rhizome thinking, and photographic arrangements, and has contributed to the book “Applied Research-Creation. Innovating from Art for Social Sectors.” She is currently participating in TransAtlantic projects such as TransMigrArts, a Horizon 2020-MSCA RISE project, and ARMEP, an Ecos Nord project.