The image description of the videos has been incorporated into the text.
In Belgium, there is a blind dancer who led the way for us. His name is Saïd, and he lives in Brussels. Anyone who knows about blind movement theater is also familiar with his name. The first time I spoke to him was by phone. We spoke for over an hour about our shared passion. Shortly after, we planned a meeting. For both dancers, the dance studio in Koekelberg was the logical location.
It took me a while to understand his "dance world." Coming from a visual background, his movement theory was initially difficult for me to comprehend. However, I must say that in recent months, I gained insight, understanding, and even deep respect for what he does. First and foremost, his goal is aligned with ours: "connecting the sighted and blind world through dance." Furthermore, his mode of expression in dance is primarily shaped by the haptic, with the added element of contact between individuals. A highly effective medium in dance. His movements are fluid and dynamic. His dance conveys feeling and emotion. All powerful elements needed to create something beautiful.
With his modern jazz style, he primarily focuses on expression and physicality through contact with others. A beautiful and important approach. He is a pioneer in dance for the blind and visually impaired and thus an invaluable figure in the dance scene.
Dance connects and is inherently “inclusive.” This is also what Saïd Gharbi strives for with his art.
I interpret his dance as almost 100% haptic. The following videos and photos will provide further clarification.
Video 1: Saïd asks to make contact through sound. We are both scattered in the room and try to find each other through sound. He snaps his fingers, and I try to slide my feet over the dance floor, which also creates sound. Once we find each other, he uses his hands for constant contact with me. The floor is also a fixed reference point for Saïd. He lowers himself to the ground and, in a way, guides me down to the floor. We then attempt to achieve harmony by connecting with each other and the floor. This was the first time we had contact in this landscape. Of course, the video is just a small experiment and appears quite exploratory. Research is important.
Video 2: In this video, I teach a class with 4 blind dancers and 3 sighted dancers. You can see that everyone dances individually, but Saïd is the only one in contact with a sighted dancer. He uses her as a reference point and orientation. I adopted this approach for line exercises in salsa and bachata with students and schoolchildren. The dance partner is the easiest tool. His experience taught him that. I didn’t know it back then, but now I’m happy with this insight.
Video 3: This shows the same as video 2 but is filmed from behind the dancers (with their backs to the camera). You can clearly see that Saïd reproduces the basic steps by maintaining contact with his sighted partner. I refer back to video 1, where I raise my right leg high and cross it over my left leg. Saïd copies this movement by feeling the movement and doing the same. This means that he has great body awareness in his own movements but also in those of the connected partner.
Video 4: Saïd and I prepared a dance lesson. We concluded that we would divide the haptic experience into three parts.
1. Movement contact with one's own body
2. Movement contact with the environment (floor, wall)
3. Movement contact with another dancer
In the video, he slides his hands and arms over his knees and legs, then seeks out the floor. With his body, he paves the way to contact with the floor.
Video 5: Saïd refers to it as "a journey of the body," where he first makes contact with his own body through his hands and then with the fingers that seek out the other. Michèle wants a sort of interaction in the movement contact.