Local artist Jerron Herman celebrates Disability Pride Month through dance
NEW YORK -- It's Disability Pride Month, marking the July signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
CBS2's Cindy Hsu introduces us to an artist celebrating through dance.
Jerron Herman is a modern dancer who has performed all over the world. His latest project in partnership with the Abrons Arts Center is a 45-minute performance called "Vitruvian Man," based off the famous drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.
"I wanted to insert my Black male disabled identity into this really classical image and think about how I still fit in," Herman said.
Herman was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 3 months old and never imagined he could become a dancer.
"I definitely thought that my CP would have been a barrier to dancing. I was flat-out told that dreams of being a performer were flat or would not happen," Herman said.
So Herman didn't start dancing until he was 20, when a dance company asked him to join. Before then, he wrote for theater. Now he dances every day. He says Disability Pride Month is a time to celebrate the progress made in disability rights, but it's also a time to get loud about the many changes still needed.
"There's still so many structural things that are literally physical barriers to entry for people with disabilities," Herman said.
Herman is hopeful about the future and says there are many ways everyone can celebrate Disability Pride Month.
"I would say Google history about disability lives, disabled lives. 'Crip Camp' is a documentary that was very lauded last year," Herman said. "Go see work by disabled folks who say they're disabled on their titles and their bios and, hey, think about a world that is more accessible."
You can seen Herman's performance of "Vitruvian Man" virtually through July 30. For more information, please click here.