Shay Erlich (They/Them)
LightNews LightNews
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Shay Erlich (They/Them)
@shay-erlich.bsky.social
1.3K followers 730 following 360 posts
Artist. Creative Producer/Director. Dancer. Disability Consultant and activist. Living in unceded Treaty 13 territory (T:karonto). Queer, non-binary, multiply disabled.

Linktree: linktr.ee/ShayErlich
Posts Replies Media Videos
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Disability-led space is magical. Rehearsals for this project have been some of the most grounded and healing dance spaces I’ve ever been in. Almost every rehearsal someone has the experience of being in dance space in a new disabled way. And we get to share it with you all next week! Please join us!
A poster for Cripping The Past with three visibly and invisibly disabled people wearing masks and dressed for an evening event. The person in the upper left hand corner is a femme presenting black person with dark skin and tight curly back hair off to their right side. They are wearing a fishnet cropped body suit with a yellow crop top and shiny yellow shorts overtop. They are also wearing yellow knee socks, shoes and gold jewelry. Midway down the poster on the right side of the page is a brown-skinned manual wheelchair user. They have straight shoulder length dark brown hair, an upper arm sleeve tattoo and wearing a patterned green dress with green shoes that match their green wheelchair. In the lower left corner is a light-skinned cane user. They are wearing a pink cow print hat, fringed jacket, bolo tie and cow print shorts to match their pink cowboy style boots. The text of the poster reads: Cripping the Past. Social Dance Ball. Free. All Ages. Family Friendly. Relaxed Event (Come and go as you please). Masked Event. ASL Interpretation. Wheelchair Accessible. Service Dogs Welcome. PSWs on Site. Blind/Low-Vision Inclusive. Saturday September 27th 2025. 6-9 pm. The Village at Black Creek. RSVP @ http://www.pushmakers.org/cripping-the-past Logos on the poster include: Pushmakers, The Toronto Arts Council, The Village at Black Creek, Dancemakers, Crossroads Theatre
September 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Also… I fixed the shower. They left it like this.
June 25, 2025 at 5:44 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
An informal job posting for an experienced video game producer/dev to offer mentorship support to an indie game in early development!
I’m a little overwhelmed with work right now, so I’m posting a low key job description to hopefully find the right people in my networks before creating a more formal posting: I am looking to hire an experienced video game developer/producer who has a good understanding of the commercial funding markets and what a pitch package and process looks like to be a mentor for our development process for Cycles of Care. It would be ideal if this person could also support our narrative development and offer dramaturgical support as well, but these can also be separate roles if necessary. Both roles are freelance contractor roles with budget allocated in an already received development grant. I am ideally looking for a multiply marginalized folks as the central characters in the game are queer, trans, disabled and both white and black and it is important to me that the dev team reflects lived experience. Please feel free to share within your networks if you know any suitable folks. At this point, I’d prefer facilitated introductions to people you personally know rather than a formal application process.
April 12, 2025 at 6:41 PM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Accomplishment 1: Launching Ready For Access last April. Giving my access consulting work its own home and space to grow. We have our first webinar up on YouTube about how to make public facilitation more accessible!
The Ready For Access Logo. The words Readt For Access are bold and in blue stacked in the lower left corner. From the top of the word Ready 3 colour stripes of golden yellow, teal, and dark purple emerge forming an arc that swirls down circularly to the top of the first s in Access.
March 9, 2025 at 1:20 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
And I’ve been motoring along on the new hand knit sweater too!
A dark grey sweater knit in progress against a turquoise background. The yarn for the sweater is dark grey with flecks of light wool scattered in like confetti. The sweater is a classic top down raglan with some back of sweater shaping so the back of the neckline sits higher than the front. The collar is ribbed and the sweater is knit to just below the sleeve divide with the sleeve stitches on stitch holders.
February 17, 2025 at 5:50 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Also finally blocked the handknits I’ve finished in the last couple of months.
Two hand knit items laying flat on a black exercise mat to dry. On the left is a thin scarf with an open lace wave pattern made from hand spun yarn that is green, yellow, orange and red in stripes. Each stripe is longer than the one before it so almost half the scarf is red. On the right is a clapotis which is a rectangular stole that has diagonal lines of dropped stitches. It is knit from varigated mini skeins so the colour travels from turquoise in the top right corner through blue gradients which shift to yellow and grey through the middle before shifting back to blues and purples and pinks back to a more solid purple in the lower left hand corner.
February 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Really enjoying cozy time in the snow this weekend. I made some cinnamon buns!
12 frosted cinnamon rolls in a tin tray. The rolls are mostly hidden under the thick slab of icing but are visible through thinner spots of icing and at the edge of the tin.
February 16, 2025 at 9:38 PM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Don’t you wish that you were pandemic safe enough to enjoy a slice of this with us? It’s also homemade butter too because I am so very extra about cooking from scratch when I can.
A white plate held in my hand with three slices of freshly baked Challah bread smeared with homemade butter
February 8, 2025 at 6:56 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Post bake picture!
The same long Challah bread now freshly baked on the parchment paper. It is golden brown on all of the exposed braid portions and you can see the lighter seams and raise in the creases where the braid weaves.
February 8, 2025 at 5:24 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
What’s up BreadSky?

Anyone else stress baking into the weekend? If nothing else this political moment is helping me dial in my bread game. Now I’m just waiting for my starter to hit mature enough to mess with too.
A freshly braided straight challah loaf with sesame seeds on parchment paper waiting to go into the oven
February 8, 2025 at 4:18 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
Not normally one to name and shame but for the love of all that is dear, what on earth is this ad? Tell me you know absolutely nothing about accessibility while advertising your accessibility advice. Empty wheelchairs and inaccessible playground equipment doesn’t make for beyond minimum access.
Screenshot of a sponsored ad on Facebook of a company called Playworld. The ad text reads: At Playworld we believe play is for everyone. That’s why our equipment is designed to: Support physical, sensory and social growth. Ensure accessibility for kids and caregivers alike. Foster authentic play for children of all abilities. Let’s create a world where every child can laugh, learn and grow together. Request a quote today. Under the text is an image of a supposedly inclusive playground with a geodesic dome with several children climbing on it in the background. The foreground is of an empty blue manual rigid frame wheelchair on a fake grass textured and bumpy surface with a girl walking across a balance challenge. There is no other form of disability in the image other than an empty wheelchair. The image is ironically labelled: Inclusive playground design. Go beyond minimum accessibility requirements.
January 9, 2025 at 4:59 AM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
One of the (many) holiday sewing projects has been this epic menorah puzzle feeder for the dog. Expect a lot more photos and videos as the holiday progresses but I’m too proud not to share some early photos!
A cardboard menorah painted mostly in various shades of blue with some red, brown, gold and silver highlights (prioritizing the dog visible spectrum) with rolled up puzzle feeders as candles. The candles are set for the first night of Channukah with the Shamesh and the first light. A shot of the inside of the bright pink puzzle feeder mat laid out next to the menorah. You can see a strip of Velcro that holds the roll shut and several rows of navy blue fleece cut into loops for the treats to get hidden inside of them. This image shows Lou Lou - a 25 pound terrier mix who is cream and wearing a yellow plaid hoodie and a teal harness coming over the inspect the laid open puzzle feeder candle (as described in previous picture) expecting that from the shape it might already have treats inside of it and be for her. It was sadly empty. A detail shot of the pink candle when it is rolled up. You can see black embroidery on the bottom which reads “Lou Lou 2024”. When the candle is rolled up the top row of blue fleece loops sticks out the top creating a “flame” effect for the candle.
December 26, 2024 at 6:34 PM
shay-erlich.bsky.social
I am partnering with Dancemakers to organize a Canada-wide residency for manual wheelchair dancers! Applications are now open. Please share widely! Applications due Dec. 8th, and application assistance is available. For more information check out dancemakers.org/pushmakers
Image Description: Flyer for Pushmakers' Residency has black text is layered on a background of orange, yellow and peach shapes saying the following:"Calling all wheelchair dancers: With the support of Dancemakers, Guest Curator Shay Erlich will be facilitating The Pushmakers Residency lab. What: A residency for manual wheelchair dancers to develop and document movement vocabulary in wheelchair dance. When: July and August 2024 (3 weeks, total of 40 hours of work). Who: Seeking manual wheelchair dancers who have some previous experience of dance training or performance. Multiply marginalized wheelchair dancers will be prioritized for this opportunity. How: Visit www.dancemakers.org/pushmakers for application details!” Dancemakers logo of black and grey text reading “DANCEMAKERS CENTRE FOR CREATION” is at the bottom of the flyer.
November 28, 2023 at 2:00 AM