October 27, 2005

Mixed Ability Dance Companies

Lately I've been learning about dance companies that feature dancers with disabilities. I'm very interested in learning more about how people with different types of disabilities learn to dance and how audience members with dsiabilities can enjoy performances.

Here are some websites for mixed ability dance companies that often both perform and offer classes for students with disabilities. A number of these websites have video clips of performances:

- AXIS Dance
- Dancing Wheels
- Full Radius
- Inflight Dance Co.
- Mojalet Dance Collective
- Touch Compass Dance Trust

Also, I found an article, "Dance Techniques for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Dancers", on the site for The Gallaudet Dance Company. The article explains how deaf and hearing impaired students learn to dance in time when they can't hear the music - it's challenging, but it can be done.

What led me to write this post today was a story I came across in Technocrat.net about a device called Vibrato that enables deaf people to feel music with their fingertips. The press release announcing Vibrato explains that each finger on your hand is connected to a separate pad that makes it possible to distinguish between notes, rhythms and instruments.

I don't fully understand how this device works but I get the general idea that it makes it possible for people with no or limited hearing to feel the music. It strikes me that this would be a great addition for helping deaf people more fully enjoy dance performances.

Posted by Doug Fox at 12:01 PM - Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)