Institute On Disabilities, Temple University to Co-Produce YOU CAUGHT ME ON YOUR SHOULDERS

The Institute on Disabilities, Temple University today will collaborate with internationally renowned disability arts company Kinetic Light to produce a new work, You Caught Me on Your Shoulders. You Caught Me on Your Shoulders explores disability culture, liberation, interrelations, and the weight of sound and silence. 

Founded in 2016 by Alice Sheppard, Kinetic Light is a leader in the dance, disability arts, performing arts, and tech spaces, creating immersive work that emerges from disability culture and is centered in aesthetically and artistically equitable access. The Institute on Disabilities learns from and works with Pennsylvanians with disabilities and families to create and share knowledge, change systems and society, and promote self determined lives so that disability is recognized as a natural part of the human experience.

Through movement, light, projection, sound, and vibration, You Caught Me on Your Shoulders will offer a meditation on civil disobedience, community, relationship and the United States's major movements for liberation as they connect in Philadelphia. The work is expected to premiere in 2027 at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, presented by FringeArts.

"So many of this nation's liberation movements have had key moments in Philadelphia. I am excited to delve into the history of liberation and to create stories that tell our past anew. The Institute on Disabilities is the perfect partner for this work," said Alice Sheppard, Founder and Artistic Director of Kinetic Light.

"We are thrilled to welcome the disability arts ensemble Kinetic Light to Philadelphia for the first time in the company's history. Kinetic Light combines artistry and access in ways that are exciting, equitable, and utterly transformative. Their presence will elevate the conversation around cultural access in and beyond our region," noted Lisa Sonneborn, the Institute's Director of Media Arts and Culture.

The Institute on Disabilities is Pennsylvania's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD) - one of sixty-eight national University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service (UCEDD) working toward a vision of self-determination, independence, productivity, and community inclusion for people with disabilities throughout the lifespan. The Institute envisions a society where all people are valued and respected, and where all people have the knowledge, opportunity and power to improve their lives and the lives of others.

Earlier in 2025, Sheppard and Laurel Lawson of Kinetic Light were awarded the Knight Choreography Prize from the National Center for Choreography-Akron.You Caught Me on Your Shoulders will be the company's fourth evening-length work, following DESCENT (2017), the aerial work Wired (2022) and the futurist disabled universe The Next TiMes (2025). Kinetic Light's repertory also includes territory (2025), a disability-centered, accessible virtual reality project.

Access is central and generative in all Kinetic Light projects and practices. With You Caught Me on Your Shoulders, Kinetic Light will deepen its core belief that access is art, with expanded work in multitrack audio description via the company's Audimance app, novel haptic (vibrational) experience created specifically for this work, artistic music and sound captions delivered via CART, and audience access practices including sensory kits, quiet space, open entry, and more.

 

Image Description: A moment from Kinetic Light’s The Next TiMes. Laurel Lawson holds their body in a diagonal line as they balance atop Alice Sheppard’s wheels and shins. Alice supports from below as they lay back, arms and torso on the ground, hips lifted. Alice is a multiracial Black woman with short curly hair, Laurel is a white person with very short cropped hair; they both wear shimmery sleeveless bodysuits. Behind them, a projection of soft blues, purples, and greens looks like rain on a windowpane. Photo by Cherylynn Tsushima.

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