Curtains up for all abilities
by Randy Pinsky
“Accessibility, in my mind, is inherently artistic,” stated multi-award-winning disabled performer, advocate and producer, Ophira Calof. “Finding ways to navigate a world not made for you takes creativity.”
Calof presented “Stories that Shape Us: Storytelling, Disability and Community Care” as part of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom’s online event celebrating Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAAIM) on February 21.
Inspired by the intersection of community arts and disability culture, Calof ’s consulting company “#CriptheScript” reclaims the word “crippled” in order to “center disability knowledge and experience throughout process, production, and presentation” in all forms of performance.
In a February interview with The Canadian Jewish News, Calof described a commitment to creating opportunities for disabled artists “who just need the space to tell the[ir] stories on their own terms.”
Calof ’s credits include TallBoyz (CBC), Kids In the Hall (Amazon Prime) and Generally Hospital (a Canadian Comedy Award Nominee). The one-woman show Literally Titanium has been featured in both performance and academic spaces as a case study in accessible production.
The Temple talk addressed several misconceptions about disability. For instance, expressions such as “wheelchair-bound” may be interpreted as implying confinement instead of freedom – a message explored in Calof ’s Broadway-type parody, Me and My Wheelchair, performed at Chicago’s Second City’s 2018 Diversity Fellowship Showcase. Calof ’s recent disability arts projects include “Making Space: Stories of Disabled Youth, Past and Present” with Myseum Toronto/RAFTO, and Dis/Play, where pieces made by Deaf or disabled artists were projected onto Toronto’s public buildings, one simply stating, “I AM HERE.”
On a mission to contest assumptions and make the Canadian entertainment industry more inclusive, Calof is also the accessibility process lead for AccessCBC, a CBC initiative for creators with a disability and creative director of the Accessible Writers’ Lab sponsored by the Canada Media Fund.
An active member of the Jewish community, Calof noted the “hopefulness” of the JDAAIM month while also expressing mixed feelings as “I’m disabled 365 days of the year.”
While noting how the Jewish community has demonstrated leadership in inclusive programming, Calof has observed that people with disabilities do not want to be recipients of tzedakah (charity), but instead accepted just as they are.
As a gesture of inclusion and accommodation to congregants with different challenges including invisible disabilities, Rabbi Lisa Gruschow of Temple invites members to “rise in body or in spirit” as a way to take part if they are unable to stand up during services.
In wrapping up the talk, Calof challenged congregants to move beyond a “check-box” approach to inclusion, which is often reactive or complaints-based, to a more proactive and accepting one. “How can we build a more just space, a more just community, where all bodies and minds can thrive?”
