may themselves be disabled or not, or works may be created collaboratively with the dancers through improvisation. Judith Smith, former Artistic Director of AXIS Dance Company, has said that outside choreography who set work on the company approach creating the work the same way they would for a company that is not physically integrated. Adam Benjamin, author of Making an Entrance: Theory and Practice for Disabled and Non-Disabled Dancers (2002), has written about the perhaps unnecessary labelling of a dance performance as "integrated" or "inclusive" dance when advertising it to the public, calling it, "a bit like a roadsign warning the unwary theatre-goer of possible encounters with wheelchairs—it tells us that we can expect to see a disabled person on stage, which can only leave us asking, 'Is that really necessary? Who is it that needs to be warned?'" Part of the reason for this practice may be the breaking of a taboo for some audience members to see bodies in many conditions performing on stage, an event that may create astonishment, among other reactions. Audiences in Western cultures are accustomed to seeing only dancers in peak physical condition when they attend performances at top theatres. Some disabled dancers say that a flaw of physically integrated dance is that the disabled dancers can be treated "as a prop onstage". Others say that disabled dancers can be turned away from such companies at auditions if their disability is not visible. Not all physically integrated choreography is made by non-disabled people, though some disabled dancers have said that non-disabled choreographers are ill-equipped to make full use of the talents of someone who uses a wheelchair, crutch or cane. Laurel Lawson has said that the overuse injuries normalized in sports and concert dance can take a greater toll on a dancer who is disabled. Alice Sheppard of Kinetic Light said in March 2021 that she as a disabled dancer she is not out to evangelize to non-disabled people; she sees other disabled people as her primary audience. Physically Integrated Dance Companies AXIS Dance Company AXIS Dance Company is a professional contemporary dance company and dance education organization based in Oakland, California. It was founded in 1987 and was one of the first contemporary dance companies in the world to consciously develop choreography that integrates dancers with and without physical disabilities. Their work has received seven Isadora Duncan Dance Awards and nine additional nominations