When Dance Meets People with Visual Disability

Purpose

This was a case study about the six people who have visual impairment participating in the artistic performances.The researcher purpose to explore how the blind use others sense such as auditory, olfactory, tactility, and kinesthesia to experience dance. The purpose of this study is to present the experiences of the people who have visual impairment participating in the artistic performances.Nealy,to discuss the psychology of the people with visual impairment in this process.

Methods

The researcher spent 2 months in collecting data from 6 researchers participating in the artistic performances. The study data acquired through18 dress rehearsals observation, 3 time focus group interview, and several times formal and informal interviewing with the 6 visual impairment, 2 choreographers, 2 social workers. The finding emerged from interviewing transcriptions, observation notes, as well as the research journal of the researcher and the documents, reports and records related to this study. Data analysis was mainly in narrative analysis. The trustworthiness of the study was based on data triangulation, member check, peer examination, expressing the researcher's position and audit trail.

Analysis/Results

The findings consisted of six vignettes to show the themes of the study: “what's my body look like,” “who standing behind me,” “I am go, am I ?,“up stage, down stage,” “voice is a monster,” and “scents”. Then, the researcher wrote “when dance meets the disability” to discuss the psychology of the people who have visual impairment .Hopefully, the study provides readers with concerns of the disability's dance life .

Conclusions

The visually handicapped persons learn to the dance more laboriously than the sighted people. Without optical assistance, their processes of learning to dance instruments are extremely difficult. Those members who choose the dance performance to be their occupation need to make double efforts to earn the applause from their audiences. However, the people with visual impairment participating in the artistic performances has not only brought the positive influence to the society, but also brought new life experience and encouragement to the people with visual impairment.