NICOLE MALINOFF
CREATOR/PRODUCER
she/her
Nicole Malinoff is a white, Disabled, Autistic, mysterious condition-having Queer person, and lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest. She has been dancing formally-ish for 15 years, and informally since she discovered the existence of The Nutcracker and tutus. She has been teaching dance for 7 years, and during that time has been developing, altering and honing different teaching strategies in order to better include everyone who signs up for her classes. Though she hates that there will never be a perfect system for every body, she believes deeply in the power of adaptation, for all parties involved. Currently, her biggest beef is with the study of anatomy and the broad spectrum of harm caused by it, and her biggest obsession is with the concepts of symbiosis and efficiency. Nicole strives to decouple the ideas of strength, freedom and capacity, from ability (non-disability), so she and others can experience the satisfaction of gaining expressive tools without feeling like they need to “fix” or erase meaningful parts of their lived experiences. She would like to extend gratitude to the Lane Arts Council, for selecting her for the grant that’s helping to fund this project, to Fingers Crossed Interpreting, and to Disabled people for making every space they inhabit more functional and caring.
[Image description: Nicole, a white woman with a wavy, dark, chin length bob is pictured from the shoulders up. Her head is tilted to one side and she’s looking up inquisitively. She’s wearing red lipstick, a black top, and is smirking slightly.]