2021 DIGITAL DANCE GRANT

COLLABORATORS: Ginger Lane and studiothread

ReinventAbility expands the horizons of dance and shares, with disabled individuals and communities who are too often excluded, the exquisite joy of dancing! Our founder, Ladonna Freidheim, is passionate about inclusion, dance, science, and serving those in need. She is a formally trained dancer who lost the ability to dance, in the traditional sense, to a degenerative disability, necessitating a personal reinvention that led to our mission of educating and enlightening perceptions of disability through dance. Ladonna’s friend, mentor, and member of the ReinventAbility Board of Directors Ginger Lane is an award winning choreographer and recognized disability rights advocate. She trained in ballet and transitioned to physically-integrated dance in 1984 when she became a wheelchair user. Since then, Ginger has performed with the Joffrey Ballet, was an original member of Dance>Detour – the first integrated performance company in Chicago, and danced, choreographed and taught with MOMENTA Dance Company. She also produced and directed disability arts and culture events for 31 years with Access Living. Ginger received a 3Arts award, UIC Fellowship, was Grand Marshal of the 2017 Disability Pride Parade, and in 2020 she was appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to the Cultural Arts Council of Chicago. Ginger has collaborated on a number of projects with Jon Satorum, who heads up the team at studiothread. Jon is also the Program Advisor for the Media Arts and Design Program at the University of Chicago and was identified as one of Chicago’s top filmmakers in 2020 (New City: Screen Gems)