At Longmore Institute Lecture, Alice Sheppard Expresses Complex Ideas Through Movement

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- The dancer raised one arm and held it in the air to meet the pinch of sunlight creeping through the window. The slow piano music resonated out of the speakers, but it did not move her; she moved on her own terms. Her contoured muscles were redefined with each new line, using her wheelchair as a part of her emotional expression. “The movement tells me how to feel,” Alice Sheppard said. “If you do the movement, emotion comes with it.” Sheppard is on the advisory committee of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability. The institute was established to continue the disability studies work of its founder, former History Professor Paul Longmore. “Our long-term goal is to combine academic study and community involvement to execute projects that open up a dialogue about the lives of disabled people,” said Emily Beitiks, Longmore Institute assistant director.