In honour of Disability Awareness Month this March, The Irish Dance Globe spoke with three incredibly inspiring Irish dancers who navigate the whirlwind world of Irish dance with blindness or low vision.
Taaliyah Bates, 12, from Huddersfield, UK is a student of the Kane Irish Dance school and has been blind since birth. She only started Irish dancing last year and has already made leaps and bounds in progress. Taaliyah’s teacher, Rebecca Kane told IDG: “I haven’t gone out of my way to make things any different to what you would get with what you would class in today’s day and age as a mainstream child.”
Sometimes, Taaliyah struggles with balance but often uses a bar to lean against to help get her steady her when needed.
When asked what dances were the most challenging for her to learn, Taaliyah said, “I think maybe some of the reel, getting the jump two-threes was a bit hard for me.”
Taaliyah’s teacher is undoubtedly a key part of her success in learning Irish dancing and creating an equal environment for her to learn in. “I have just treated Taaliyah the same as I would with any other child,” she said.
Meabh Conneely, an 18-year-old dancer from Galway, Ireland is another dancer with impaired vision, and has been incredibly outspoken about her disabilities on social media, which also includes autism, anxiety, underdeveloped lungs, and gastroparesis.
“The everyday tasks that some dancers take for granted, getting your shoes on and off, dancing at feis’ confidently, being able to go up onstage and not even having to think twice…these are just three of those things that I have to overcome when it comes to my dancing,” Meabh said.
Meabh cited a recent challenge she faced when she was invited to watch a performance of Lord Of The Dance in Dublin where she was challenged with getting up and down stairs independently.
“A big thing that stands out to me when it comes to my vision impairment, are the opportunities that I am getting lately and my vision impairment kind of cuts in at some stage throughout the day.”
However, with a little help from her friends, Meabh is able to navigate those obstacles that make her daily life with a vision impairment a little more difficult, sharing, “I think being vision impaired makes me appreciate those around me more.”
Hayden Moon, 28, from Sydney, Australia is legally blind and explained how low vision can affect his dancing in multiple ways, which is “mainly in terms of learning steps, but it’s always quite easy for me to adapt.”
He added: “I’ve always had really supportive teachers who are willing to teach me in a way that works for me and my level of vision. Usually that just means being more vocal about the steps, so, describing them verbally to me rather than just demonstrating something physically.
“I use my hearing a lot to navigate, even just in general life. Even in soft shoe, I listen to what the shoes of my teacher and my classmates are doing. I can hear that and I can then make sure that my feet are making the same sounds.”
Hayden reminded us that blindness, like many other disabilities, is a spectrum, and so everyone’s experience of vision loss or low vision may be different. “For me, I have no peripheral vision,” he says.
Hayden also highlighted a “perk” of his lack of peripheral vision; he doesn’t have to worry about being distracted by the other dancers on stage with him, which allows him to just focus on his own dancing.
The Irish dance world can be a tricky place at the best of times, but these three dancers are inspiring examples of overcoming challenges and adapting, reminding us that Irish dancing should be a place for anyone and everyone to thrive.
