NETWORK NEURODIVERSITY

Care Pods & Sharing Circles:

Cultivating Collective Care in Learning Spaces

Uferstudios, Studio 12

7 Mondays and 1 Tuesday:

20.04., 27.04., 04.05., 11.05., 18.05., 26.05. (TUE),01.06., 08.06.

16:00-19:00

Angela Alves

Studium Generale

This seminar is shaped as a Care Pod and will take place in a relaxed studio setting at Uferstudios in Berlin-Wedding, offering a space where we can build deeper bonds, where we feel heard, held, seen, and supported in this period of political crisis and threat. This seminar is open to anyone invested in reimagining learning as a practice of care, solidarity, and transformation.

What happens in the seminar?

Drawing on Mia Mingus’ concept of Pods, this seminar explores how mutual care, trust, and interdependence can shape the way we learn and support one another. Over a period of two months, we meet weekly and interact in Sharing Circles based on free associative speech without interruption, without judgement, without advice, and without problem-solving goals. Uninterrupted speaking and deep, active listening are at the heart of our practice. Each session begins with a horizontal rest practice.

What do we learn in the seminar?

Participants gain practical experience in creating and maintaining Care Pods as an access strategy that challenges traditional hierarchical learning models by centering neurodivergent experience.

ACCESS WORKSHOP SERIES: ACCESSIBILITY IN ARTISTIC

HIGHER EDUCATION

Hybrid/ online

Monday: 11.05., 18.05., 08.06 (12:30-15:00), 22.06., 29.06.2026 15:00-17:30

Susanne Adam, Angela Alves, Leo Naomi Baur, Nadja Dias, Jan Haver, Roisin Keßler,

Anne Rieger, Konrad Wolf

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, maC, All Staff

— Workshop Series

This workshop series explores accessibility across different aspects of university life in the arts. It consists of five themed sessions, each with input from a guest expert and a group discussion moderated by two disabled facilitators, Leo Naomi Baur and Roisin Keßler. The series invites staff, students, and anyone interested in accessibility in artistic education to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and reflect on how access meets established academic and artistic routines — especially in areas where no ready-made solutions yet exist.

Artistic Associate Nadja Dias and other members of the Einstein Visiting Professorship “Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts” team will also take part in the workshops and be available for collegial exchange. The five workshops include:

1. Introduction to Access in Higher Education

Mo, 11.05. 2026, 15:00-17:00

with Roisin Keßler and Leo Naomi Baur

Establishing shared language and principles for an anti-ableist approach within academic and artistic contexts.

2. Technical Implementation of Access

Mo, 18.05.2026, 15:00-17:30

Jan Havers in dialogues with Nadja Dias

Practical approaches to integrating access measures for creative teams and audiences in student works and public events.

3. Aesthetics of Access in Student Projects

Mo, 08.06.2026, 12:30-15:00

with Angela Alves

Addressing how disabled, chronically ill, or Deaf students can integrate access needs as part of their artistic research, and how all students can experiment with access as an artistic and ethical practice.

4. Access in Teaching –

Mo, 22.06.2026, 15:00-17:30

with Konrad Wolf

Exploring accessibility in learning environments: languages of instruction, participation requirements, diverse bodyminds and attention modes.

5. Access in Administration

Mo, 29.06.2026, 15:00-17:30

Anne Rieger in dialogue with Susanne Adam

Reflecting on how administrative and institutional processes can become more accessible and less bureaucratic.

CRIP TECHNIQUE - CRIPPING / QUEERING CONTACT

Studio 2

Monday – Thursday, 1.06.- 4.06.2026

Prof. Claire Cunningham

Guests: Anya Cloud & Makisig Akin and Peter Pleyer

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, MaC

This research week will continue Prof Cunningham’s focus into the subject of Crip Technique, researching the dance/movement vocabularies and techniques of disabled and Crip dance artists. This phase of the research will be rooted in Cunningham’s own movement history in particular engagement with Contact Improvisation, and specifically aspects of touch, trust, risk and connection/relationship. In collaboration with invited artists Anya Cloud & Makisig Akin, Peter Pleyer and Márcio K. Canabarro. Cunningham will look specifically at practices that engage with physical contact:

● To consider transference of contact (improvisation) work in relationship to Crip bodies and mobility tech and acts of cripping/queering, and consider the vocabulary and techniques Cunningham uses, and to engage with new vocabulary from other experiences.

● To consider and talk about what we might consider aspects of technique & vocabulary in relation to physical practices/trust/touch/risk etc

● To consider and talk about aspects of Cripping and/or Queering practices and of what it means to share those practices with people outside of those lived experiences.

● To explore and consider the implications of physical contact work following grief and the loss of a dance partner

& 

CRIP TECHNIQUE - CRIPPING / QUEERING CONTACT - SHARING EVENT

Studio 2

Saturday: 06.06.26, 11:00-13:00

Prof. Claire Cunningham

Guests: Anya Cloud & Makisig Akin

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, maC

The week will culminate in a round table floor conversation (which will not be around a table, but in a relaxed informal layout that suits participant needs) with the invited artists Anya Cloud & Makisig Akin, Peter Pleyer and Márcio K. Canabarro. 63/ 66The discussion will be framed around discussing aspects of technique/vocabulary (and if those terms are fitting?), things that may have arisen during the week, and particularly the question of sharing Cripping/Queering practices in teaching environments or to those from other lived experiences.

This talk will be open to HZT/UdK staff and students, and may be opened up to alumni and local disabled artists.

ARTIST AS PRODUCER

Friday:19.06.2026, 10:00-17:00

Nadja Dias

For: MA SODA

In this session, students are invited to actively discuss, plan, and produce their final showings, productions, or current artistic projects. This session offers space to think ahead toward their final projects or to develop existing ideas with support in areas such as planning, communication, and access provision — all considered in relation to each student’s evolving artistic practice. Students will explore practical tools for structuring their work, including developing production timelines, mapping recurring themes within their practice, drafting budgets, and creating access riders. To take part, students should bring an artistic idea, proposal, or project they wish to develop into a production.

LISTEN & LUNCH

Online

Wednesday: 01.07.26, 12:30-14:00 (90-minute session)

Nadja Dias, Claire Cunningham and invited guests

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, maC

Students are invited to join Artistic Associate Nadja Dias, Prof. Claire Cunningham and invited disabled guest artists, peers and allies over lunch to listen to a live conversation about questions arising from artistic processes in choreography, dance and disability arts. You are welcome to stay on after the conversation to join the discussion, share reflections or ask questions. These sessions foreground alternative formats for learning, particularly for disabled and neurodivergent students and those living with long-term illness and chronic-health conditions. The team is committed to offering a range of digital and in-person formats throughout the professorship so that people can engage with the project and teaching in ways that are responsive to their access needs and changing circumstances. 

Sessions are recorded and transcribed so they can also be accessed as further resource on our website.

CREATING AND MANAGING YOUR OWN ACCESS RIDER

Uferstudios, Seminarraum 2 / optional online meeting

Mondays: 20.04.-08.06 (25.05.), 13:00-15:00

Tuesday: 26.05., 13:00-15:00

One to One Mentoring Sessions with Angela Alves

Channel 4

Students are invited to register for these drop-in sessions to get familiar with the concept of Access Riders. The sessions are about upskilling disabled and/or chronically ill artists and arts professionals about what an Access Rider is, how to write it, what language to use and how to use it when collaborating with colleagues and institutions.

ONE TO ONE MENTORING/ COACHING SESSIONS

Online

Wednesdays: 08.04.-15.07.26, 14:30-18:00 (90 min session, by individual appointment)

Nadja Dias

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, maC

Join these open online drop-in sessions to focus on developing your artistic work, practice and projects. Whether you’re preparing a final showing, shaping a new production, or wanting to bring more structure to your creative process, these sessions offer time and guidance to plan, reflect, and move your ideas forward. Each session is tailored to what you need — from mapping your practice, identifying recurring themes and considering context for your work, to creating production plans, budgets, and access riders. You can use the time to test ideas, get feedback, or build the producing skills that best support your way of working. You’re welcome to join if you already have a project or proposal in progress, or simply a strong wish to develop your practice and working methods in a supportive environment.

MENTORING/CONVERSATIONS

Online (1.5hr sessions, by appointment; other times considered on request)

Mondays: 17:30-19:00

Wednesdays: 11:00-12:30

Thursdays: 11:00-12:30

Prof. Claire Cunningham

For: BA 1, BA 2, BA 3, MA SODA, maC

Students are invited to register for these sessions for a quiet (or excited!) conversation to reflect on questions or concerns around:

● Artistic practice and process,

● Development,

● Creative access and care.

We can work through questions/ideas you have in your work/practice or we can discuss aspects of Cunningham’s own research focus’ - Crip Technique and the Choreography of Care.

ARTISTIC RESEARCH 

Monday to Friday: 01.-05.06.26 & 08.-14.06.26

Claire Cunningham with Anya Cloud & Makisig Akin, Peter Pleyer, Márcio K. Canabarro and

other guests. (01.-08.06.26)

Click here for more information on our previous Artistic Research Weeks.

MIRCOLAB WITH DISFRAME

Theater Gessnerallee, Zurich

Wednesday to Friday: 22.04. - 24.04.2026

Prof. Claire Cunningham, Luke Pell, Nadja Dias and collaborators

Spaces of Care and Companionship is a 3-day micro-lab and exchange format hosted by Disframe and Claire Cunningham Projects.

WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCE AT CAMPING 2026 IN

BORDEAUX

22.-26.06.2026

Prof. Claire Cunningham

23.06.2026: Performance of „4 Legs Good“

22.-26.06.2026: Invitation to Attend Workshops

Camping is an international choreographic platform centered on a week-long programme of workshops led by choreographers and performers. It also offers a range of other activities - performances, lectures, shared practices, morning classes, film screenings, and more. It is hosted by Le CN D in partnership with Theatre national Bordeaux Aquitaine and La Manufacture.