Last week my friend and I took a salsa class together, it was a super fun experience. After watching those videos, especially the one by Ellen Lupton when she was talking about eyes-free exhibition design, I can’t stop thinking about whether there could be a dance class provided for people with vision impairment, hearing issues, or who are physically disabled. They have the same right to enjoy fun.
There are excellent blind dancers like Mana Hashimoto and Krishna Washburn. With some searching I found out Krishna is a blind dancer based in New York who teaches a free online ballet class at Dark Room Ballet for adults who are visually impaired. Her students, just like her, are from around the world. Even though they can’t see her, they still can rely on her verbal descriptions of dance moves and how to direct their body into different shapes. An article about blind dancer states, “instead of a mirror, blind dancers rely on their ears, feet and a strong sense of their body in space”. Lost vision may help them in gaining more sensitivity in their feet and providing them excellent a sense of space.
We are often trapped in the idea of letting them in our world, so I’d say why not experience theirs? Blind dancer Mana Hashimoto suggested an interesting concept, which is providing an experience where sighted students can be blindfolded and learn to capture their own beauty in the moment without seeing. This way we get to step in their shoes, sense the world like how they did.
I believe it is crutial to welcome people with disabilities and provide them with more platforms like this where they can find their community, a space they can feel safe be in, expand new friendships and see their potential.
