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This prestigious ballet company traditionally offered headphones with spoken commentary so that blind patrons could follow the action on stage. Currently, through a innovative new work, the complete crowd will hear such narration within a production that examines how blindness can reshape our reactions to experience, sound and narrative.

Visually Impaired Creator Works with Renowned Choreographers

The blind artist, a visually impaired creator, is working with Sir Wayne McGregor, among other choreographers, and musician the celebrated composer in producing a recent Royal Ballet production that will debut on November 12th, International Ballet Day, as declared on Thursday.

In her art, Healey is guided by a desire to demonstrate how visual impairment and physical challenge can present an different type of understanding for all people. Her rich spoken descriptions, integrated with the score, forms the center of the performance on stage.

"Making world-class dance and musical theater for all" is a mission statement of the the organization. Under the director, the Royal Ballet's director, the company is concentrating on "radical accessibility – welcoming artists and audiences to encounter dance in life-changing innovative methods," he stated.

Several Choreographers Partner on Fresh Work

The recent commission is being choreographed by Tiler Peck, Bim Malcomson, and Rebecca Myles Stewart, as well as Wayne McGregor, all partnering with the blind artist.

The curator, the director of this commission, said: "International Ballet Day was established on the concept of accessibility. After a ten years, we're pushing that idea deeper to consider how impaired perspectives can shape our art form, and welcome audiences of every capability and backgrounds to experience dance in fresh approaches."

Following partnerships with the artist in Canada and Australia, the curator understood that those with vision who had experienced the artist's audio narration felt it aided them comprehend ballet, which can appear so unclear.

Inspiring Partnership Between Professional and Non-Professional Performers

In a particular duet, the company's dancer Leo Dixon will perform alongside Takashi Kikuchi, an non-professional performer who has been visually impaired from childhood and who had previously believed that dance was "mostly for individuals with vision". But the dancer has understood that it truly "entails a lot of feeling and feelings" and engages perceptions, "visual and non-visual".

The dancer's individual experience of previously losing his way on his way home and depending on the sunlight to guide his way back had influenced a performance in which the professional dancer embodies the "soothing presence of the sun around his partner as they move together," the choreographer explained.

"This occurred in the afternoon and I had a intuition that the sun should be shining from the west. So, if I turned toward the sunshine, even though I couldn't see the sunlight itself, I could feel the temperature … So I continued moving to the west …. It guided me home. The sun was a great assistant to me. The sun could be a powerful symbol. So the narrative developed from there."

Blindness Presents Unique Connection with Motion

The blind artist, an academic of disability studies at the University of Toronto, stated: "Visual impairment and being blind encourages a vibrant connection with movement in a way that is similar to a expert performer's bond with their body and motion."

In partnering with the performers, she was attempting to convey what "they feel in their body, something that’s just not perceivable through sight," she said. "I speak with the dancers to get a feeling of how they are in their body, where their breath is, what they’re thinking, how their physical form are sensing.

"In collaboration with the dance creators [and] costume, illumination, set and audio designers, the viewpoints and creativity of visual impairment are always there as we, visually impaired and seeing people, build a relationship through our passion of movement and performance. It is this artistry and love that I strive to blend into the spoken commentary. It is a partnership of the faculties directed by blindness."

She noted: "Even though the sight of the dance, the stunning display, is there in front of the audience, there is much that they’re not accessing or valuing, and it is visual impairment that is inviting seeing and visually impaired patrons both into the hidden. What I hope is that, when audience members exit, they experience dance in a distinct way, and they’re also feeling the existence, and perceiving the understandings of, visual impairment in fresh and vibrant ways."

Composer Max Richter on Sound Descriptions

Richter, whose compositions have gathered more than billions of online plays, said the descriptive commentary formed a connection between blindness and vision "via a audio environment, offering narration to that which does not always appear". He added: "It is not just a explanation of a production. It is the art."

World Dance Event Collaborators

The Royal Ballet’s global partners for International Ballet Day comprise the Canadian ballet company and the Australian dance troupe. The organizations will also provide access to behind-the-scenes footage, rehearsals and recently created productions – transmitted live via the event website.