DANCING approached disability as a human rights issue, recognising the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as the global standard for disability rights. Under WP1, the Principal Investigator (PI) and her team conducted an extensive literature review to map barriers and facilitators to the cultural participation of people with disabilities. This was complemented by a systematic review of States Parties’ reports to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee), along with the Committee’s Lists of Issues and Concluding Observations. These sources informed a novel categorisation of barriers and facilitators, supported by empirical data from focus groups and interviews with representatives of umbrella organisations of persons with disabilities, national Deaf organisations, and disability and arts organisations across the 27 EU Member States and the UK. This empirical research was enriched by arts-based research centred on the creation of an accessible contemporary dance performance by Stopgap Dance Company. Data were gathered through observation at different stages of the creative process, participation in training, and interviews with dancers, choreographers, producers, and collaborators. This culminated in the performance Lived Fiction, premiered on 11 April 2024 at the Lir Academy Theatre in Dublin. Under WP2, extensive legal doctrinal research mapped and analysed EU soft law (including Commission Communications and European Parliament Recommendations), hard law, and Court of Justice of the EU case law. The research examined the interplay between EU and national disability policies, focusing on national disability strategies across the EU and the UK. The team investigated how strands of EU law protect and promote the right of persons with disabilities to cultural participation and the accessibility of cultural goods and services. Special attention was given to Article 114 TFEU, the 2018 Audiovisual Media Services Directive, and the 2024 Directive on the European Disability Card, assessing their alignment with CRPD obligations. Two doctoral projects deepened this research: Léa Urzel Francil examined how EU law supports participation of persons with disabilities as professionals in the cultural sector, while Iryna Tekuchova explored EU external action and cultural cooperation with third countries. The legal research under WP2 informed the theoretical work of WP3, which interrogated the normative foundations of EU disability law and situated disability within the EU’s constitutional principle of cultural diversity. The findings also revealed evolving processes of constitutionalisation and federalisation of disability rights within the EU. Finally, WP4 translated DANCING’s academic research into accessible outputs to raise awareness of disability rights and foster civic engagement, informing legal and policy reforms and promoting systemic change in cultural organisations.
