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Tips for teachers and trainers

30 June 2021

Introduction: In June 2021, Dance Sports Flanders asked me to put some tips for instructors and trainers on paper. Due to COVID-19, the article was only published a year later in the VTS trainer documentation for a training program for teaching dancers with visual impairments. As I have recently gathered more knowledge about dancing with blindness, I will rewrite and enhance the article for Dance Sports Flanders in 2022. However, we have already received the green light to share my knowledge with you on our site in this article specifically aimed at instructors. Enjoy reading and exploring!

Explicit language use, such as: right, left, forward, backward, diagonal, 90°, 180°, 360°, are important and essential instructions for a basic dance course for people with visual impairments or blindness.

Welcome to the world of the blind, where:
1. Sound and
2. Touch
are the most important tools for them.

These two methods are crucial in a "dance for the blind" course and should be used systematically and thoughtfully by the instructor.
This document serves as an introduction to using these two methods.
Practical requirements:

For the dancer:
Walking stick / cane (short or long depending on the location)
Good sound system / microphone – clear language
Good shoes

In the dance space:
Flat floor
A free wall space
Rectangular panels of 1m x 2m
Chair
A place to secure the dog, so the owner can still be seen

Additionally, creating a repetitive framework is important and useful. The visually impaired can thus expect a routine that will assist them.

By a repetitive framework, we mean:

1. Point of contact (it is best to have someone who welcomes the blind or visually impaired person)
Space (should always be set up the same way)
Process (repetitive flow of the lesson – before and after)
Point of contact or reception by a (preferably fixed) volunteer, dancer, etc. Introduce yourself, ask how they prefer to be guided (on the shoulder, elbow, left, right), do not pet the guide dog when it still has its harness on, guide the visually impaired person to a fixed spot.
2. Fixed place for preparatory work: placing the chair, securing the dog – giving water to the dog (the dog is a hard worker, don’t forget to give the animal a drink before the lesson starts, it’s often been out for a while and a drink and a well-deserved break is good for its new task after the dance lessons)
3. After pointing out the chair, make sure the cane, dance shoes, and water bottle are at hand
4. Dance lesson begins: point out the dance area in the room
5. Every lesson informs/communicates the instructor about the presence of visually impaired dancers to the sighted ones, in case of inclusion, and how the lesson process will proceed (structure)

Warm-up exercises:

Blind people generally have a lot of difficulties with head orientation and often with their shoulders as well. This has a causal connection. Research has shown that this is due to the fact that they receive fewer stimuli than sighted people and also because they get little to no feedback. This applies to those born blind as well as those with a degenerative condition. Extra attention to warm-up exercises is not only important for flexibility, but also for stimulating and maintaining general motor skills.

1. Head:
Straight forward
Fully to the left
Fully to the right
Down
Up

2. Shoulders: classic shoulder warm-up exercises, where we clearly indicate which shoulder should be moved forward and backward, at what speed, and how many repetitions. Be attentive when moving the shoulders forward and backward.

3. Hips: forward and backward, rotating movements

4. Bouncing is difficult (difficult relationship between up and down movement)

The inclusive dance lesson:

1. Spatial setup & sound for the visually impaired:
a. Guide the visually impaired to a fixed place. Be mindful of the microphone and the music box if you're teaching with a microphone. The visually impaired person will orient themselves towards the music box and not towards you. Make sure the visually impaired person is at a comfortable distance from the sound, but you can still see them well as the instructor. Point out the place so that sighted dancers also get familiar with the repetitive nature of dancing with blind or visually impaired dancers.
b. Holding the shoulders of your dance partner ensures a better connection. You may not see who is in front of you, but this allows you to make an assessment of the person physically. It enables you to determine how large or small your arm movements should be. This is important because it allows you to be a graceful leader.
c. For certain exercises, such as the bounce technique in the basic step, it is useful when the visually impaired person stands behind the sighted person. Instead of dancing in front of each other, they dance behind each other with hands on the shoulders – this helps create a rhythm and understand the timing.
d. Sometimes touch is necessary, allowing the visually impaired dancer to feel: hips, knees. Many blind dancers drag their feet and show limited mobility in the knees. To address this, feel the knees of the sighted partner.
e. Some dance figures are better avoided or adapted. For example, using hooks is not always pleasant for the partner. Because the blind dancer cannot always assess the exact proportions in relation to their dance partner, it is better as an instructor to avoid certain exercises to prevent accidents, such as elbows against the nose, glasses, or jaw of the dance partner. Make the blind dancers aware of this before teaching a figure or exercise within an inclusive lesson, and explain why this figure or exercise is better not danced in, for example, socials. For salsa, for example, you can teach a "setenta con rumba" instead of a "setenta et uno." The difference between the two figures is half a meter, so safe fun can still be had.
f. The walking stick as a horizontal 0 line for feet and sound (instructor/music)

2. Spatial setup & sound for the sighted dance partner:
a. As a sighted dance partner, you need to consider a few things. In fact, it’s important to think for "two." Dancing with a visually impaired person also has its advantages. You will be extra attentive, which will help you master the dance technique better and get it under control.
b. Handy protocol:
- Introduce yourself and explain what you're going to do (in case the instructor hasn’t given a group task)
- Keep the distance between you and your visually impaired dance partner as consistent as possible; this will help them get the proportions of the figures right.
- Regularly check the hands of the visually impaired person. If they are the leader, you must always adjust to their hand position. If the visually impaired person is the follower, you should take their hand a fraction of a second before they do.
- Let them know when you’re moving
- It’s helpful to dance with the same partner regularly; switching partners too often in the beginning can cause a lot of frustration for the visually impaired person. Later, once the dancer feels more comfortable, more partner switching can be done.

3. Contact & touch:
Some dance styles maintain permanent body contact, such as the Antillean and Brazilian Zouk, where, if there is no hand contact, contact is maintained with the upper body (think of Argentine tango), full arms (waltz), or knee contact. Feet next to or in front of each other can also be an indicator, often seen in authentic and urban kizomba.

4. Social:
We concluded that because they cannot see, many social connections are missed, and society creates physical barriers, which is normal. However, in the case of visual impairment, dancing is a great way to connect with others. It’s as if the visually impaired person lives in a different, closed world, often alone. To create a better social connection with sighted people, we recommend the following: In today’s society, people need a listening ear. By being a listening ear, visually impaired people can play an important social role: showing interest in others' stories, who they are, what they do, their passions, joys, and challenges, which will foster a bond. This will allow blind individuals to take on a societal responsibility and grow from “I” to “we.”

Solo exercises or exclusive dancing:
COVID-19 presented many challenges within the dance world. This also affected teaching blind dancers digitally. Private lessons or solo-based digital teaching can be implemented in a similar setup.
In every form, clear instructions are crucial, e.g., "two steps to the left, three steps backward."
The walking stick is the most practical tool for teaching dance techniques anywhere.
Footwork with the stick as a tool: a. the stick as a horizontal guideline. Feet and body in the zero position relative to the sound.