Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Dans Le Noir (French for "in the dark")
After the Summer camp, I went to Paris to eat in a restaurant where they serve you in a pitch dark room. Bryant Gover, Nathalie Scott, and Stephanie Lassiaz and I were issued into a dark room which is the intermediary room before you go into the restaurant. They close the doors behind you and it is now pitch black, you can't even see your own hand in front of your face. Then they open the doors to the restaurant and you are escorted toga-line style to your table by the blind wait-staff. They sit you down and tell you, "Your wine glass is on your right and your water glass is on your left and there is a bottle of wine in the middle of the table." Good luck pouring it suckaz! Usually what happens is you pour the wine in your glass (or so you think you do) and then you go to take a sip only to discover that you never actually poured any wine into your glass. You have to listen for the "glug glug" of the wine to know that it is actually starting to pour and you have to stick your finger in the cup to know when to stop pouring. Of course, we knew this ahead of time and so we had all the tricks of the trade nailed down. Except for, how do you deal with a sudden feeling of claustrophobia! Poor Steph, she was a trooper and eventually relaxed enough to really enjoy the experience. I chose to eat the "surprise" menu and so I didn't even know what I was eating, but it was good! All in all, a great experience and highly recommended. If you can't make it to Paris, there is also one in London and one in Moscow (www.danslenoir.com)
Labels: blind, bryant, in the dark, nathalie, paris, restaurant
Thursday, August 17, 2006
The Lindy-Olympics - Summer Camp Week 2
Try blindfolding yourself, and then dancing your way thru an obstacle course, while the referee is yelling out dance moves like boogie back and suzy Q that you must do while weaving your way in and out of cones, under tables, and along narrow cliffs (ok, they were just benches, but when you are shorty georging across them blind-folded, they feel like cliffs!) All the while your dance partner is shouting from a designated spot across the room which direction you need to turn to get around the next obstacle. This seems all fine and dandy but let's add in a twist. Make two groups do the obstacle course at the same time so you are never really sure which voices are the ones you need to follow. Fun and Crazy. Add in a few more contests like: Charleston Kick your shoe thru a field goal, Climb from piggyback around your partner and back to piggy-back without touching the ground the fastest, and the ever famous "who can slip-n-slide the farthest" which ended in a tie-breaking showdown this year with Marty Klempner and I battling it out with "who can do the most creative slip-n-slide". Marty won, but I don't think he would want me to tell you how. Guess you will have to go next year and experience it yourself! This is one of the best camps in the world! Check it out! www.studiohop.com
Labels: blind, marty, olympics, studio hop, summer camp
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Blind Dance Marathon at the Summer Camp
Based off of my dancing blind experience in Herrang this year and a little encouragement from Jenn Harry (amazing follow living in Luzern, Switzerland), I decided to encourage people to experience dancing blind for a short while. To start the night out, we had 1/2 the people blindfolded for 4 songs and the other half of the people making sure the blind people didn't bump into each other or get hurt. Then we switched it up and let the other 1/2 try it out. Then I challenged everyone, whoever danced blindfolded the longest would get free DVD's from the Summer Camp and more. 70+ people took the challenge and 30+ were still going strong 4 hours later. After 6 hours, it had dwindled down to just 3 people and they weren't going to lose. Well, we had 3 dvd's and 3 dancers and they conveniently all lost at the same time and decided to each take 1 dvd. The best part about this night was how everyone really pulled together to make sure no one got hurt or was left alone. It created a great social atmosphere.
Labels: blind, marathon, studio hop, summer camp
Monday, July 10, 2006
Blind or Deaf... Which would you choose?
"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind and therefore is winged cupid painted blind" a midsummer night's dream
This is the quote that stoked the conversation which led to the following... I spent an hour being blind while Claudia Nobauer from Vancouver spent an hour being deaf, and then we swapped. Being Blind... Sucks in the real world! I was totally dependent upon my helper to get me around, I couldn't play pool (or most games for that matter), and eating was a challenge. But... Being Blind... Rocks in the dance world! I felt so much better blindfolded. I had better posture because I didn't have to look away from my partner to avoid the awkward stare moments and I was forced to really rely on my other senses to dance with my partner. Which made me realize how often I must rely on visual when I should be relying on feelings (just like I am always telling the follows in class)! Hmmm, I should take more of my own advice! Being Deaf... Not nearly as bad in the real world. I could still get around pretty easily. I could talk to people as long as they were looking at me, speaking slowly and gesturing. But... Being Deaf in the dance world SUCKS!!! This was frustrating. Partly because the closest thing to really being deaf was to play really loud music thru headphones to block out other noise. Try dancing to a nice slow bluesy song when you have Shout n Feel it racing thru your head. It's frustrating, however, it is something you can learn to block out. Being Deaf was mostly frustrating because I could not hear the melodies, phrasings, and mood changes in the songs. I could have someone tap out the beat on my shoulder, so I could be "on time" but it just didn't feel like dancing anymore.
Labels: blind, claudia, deaf, herrang
