ABOUT THE DEAF, DISABILITY & MAD ARTS ALLIANCE OF CANADA

DDMAAC's
​NATIONAL CO-CHAIRS

DDMAAC's
​UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION

​DDMAAC is an ad hoc collective of diverse Deaf, Disability & Mad-identified arts advocates, many of whom have been attentive to the national movement for 15 years now, and counting! 

DDMAAC cultivates conduits of cultural affinity, artistic autonomy and disability justice for Canada's Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts Domain.

Visit DDMAAC's website (in development).
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Michele Decottignies, Co-Chair
Michele is a multiple-award winning arts-based activist, with 30 years experience in Canada's professional art sector. 

She is the founder and Artistic Director of Stage Left Productions; the founder & co-coordinator of The Calgary Collective for Equity & Diversity in the Arts; and the founder and co-Chair of DDMAAC.

Michele is currently also an arts equity advisory to Canadian Dance Assembly and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres; she currently sits on CAPACOA's Board; and she's also an "artist in residence" of sorts to Dr. Lynden Crowshoe's Educating for Equity arts-based Indigenous health interventions.
​ 

Rachel da Silva Gorman, Co-Chair
Rachel is a curator and artist working in dance theatre and performance, and is Associate Professor in the Graduate Program in Critical Disability Studies at York University.

She has been part of queer of colour and disability arts movements since 1999, and has worked as a movement facilitator for several solo artists and collectives.

She served on the editorial committee of Fuse Magazine from 2007-2009, and the programming committee at A Space Gallery from 2009-2017. SHe's currently the national Co-Chair of DDMAAC, and a member of Stage Left's Board.

DDMAAC is currently an initiative of Stage Left Productions: A leading contributor to Canada's Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts domain – in the areas of networking, presenting, production, training and national advocacy.  

Ryerson RBC Institute,
Critical Disability Studies 

Disability art...marks the growing political power of disabled [artists...who] use it to counter cultural misrepresentation, establish disability as a valued human condition, [and] shift control to disabled people. (Lights... Camera... Attitude!)