Cross-Network Connect: Founding Leaders of Physically Integrated Dance

Join us for a Cross-Network Connect: Fireside Chat with the Founding Leaders of Physically Integrated Dance with Mary Verdi-Fletcher and Judith Smith. 

About Our Speakers:
Mary Verdi-Fletcher, the President/Founding Artistic Director of Dancing Wheels Company & School. Ms. Verdi-Fletcher has been the world’s first and foremost professional wheelchair dancers, she has worked and studied with many esteemed artists and is considered a pioneering force in the development and success of physically integrated dance for well over 4 decades. She has performed for audiences of more than 6.5 million since the inception of the Company and is responsible for the commission of over 100 works in the Company’s current repertory. Seeing the need for training and career opportunities for dancers of all ability levels, Ms. Verdi-Fletcher created the multi-arts Dancing Wheels School in 1990. Attracting students from around the globe, the school is considered the worldwide center for physically integrated dance & Arts Access. As an educator, Mary has conducted master classes and lectures and has consulted with notable arts institutions across several continents. 

Also, a tireless arts administrator and advocate, Mary has helped develop state and national programs for arts and disability service organizations and has worked to help to pass significant pieces of legislation. Her efforts have paved the way for others in their quest for full and equal access. Mary is a recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize, OhioDance Award for contribution to dance in Ohio, Governor’s Award for Arts Education in Ohio and the Trustee Award for contributions to dance from DanceUSA. She had served on the Executive Board of Directors of DanceUSA for 6 years and is a member of the ADACleveland committee.

Judith Smith, Founding Member and Director Emerita of AXIS Dance Company, is one of the world’s driving forces in physically integrated dance. Under Judith’s direction AXIS commissioned more than 35 works from the nation’s best choreographers and composers; toured to over 100 cities and appeared twice on FOX TV’S So You Think You Can Dance. She led the development of the field’s most extensive integrated dance education/outreach programs with a range of programs serving all ages, abilities and interests from recreation to the pursuit of a professional career. Her advocacy/equity work led to the first-ever National Convening on the Future of Physically Integrated Dance in the USA. This project culminated in an extensive report and the launch of the AXIS Artistic Advancement Platform for Dancers with Disabilities. She was instrumental in the creation of the Dance/USA Deaf and Disability [Network]. In 2022, Judith received Dance/USA’s Honors Award for “demonstrated achievements, extraordinary leadership, and exceptional contributions to the national dance field, which consistently reflect a high level of artistic excellence, creative force of vision, and breadth of work.” She has also received an Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Sustained Achievement and Theatre Bay Area’s 40 People that have Changed the Face of Bay Area. Since retiring from AXIS in early 2018, Judith has continued work in the field of dance and disability.