[Blindtlk] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness?

Fri Sep 17 19:18:06 UTC 2010

I have been totally blind since birth.  I belong to a community singing 
group.  For years we did shows,  I danced, wrestled, and did other things on 
stage.  I had some leads and other parts.  I am not a great dancer, but 
would not have been I believe if I saw.  I wads a pretty good athlete in 
high school, but might have been better if I had more confidence.  I long 
membership in NFB among other things has helped me become more confident as 
a person.

--------------------------------------------------
From: "cheryl echevarria" <cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:59 PM
To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness?

> This is my own opinion here, are you worried about not jumping around on 
> stage, because let's see stevie wonder doesn't do anything, and Ray 
> Charles both sat at the piano and moved and grooved, we recently went to 
> see Andrea Bocelli the famous operatic singer, and from what my husband 
> told me he didn't move around either, but love his voice so who cares.
>
> I don't think it affects our movements at all, some people have more 
> rhythm then others, I have 2 left feet when I dance with my husband, does 
> that have to do with me blind, I have been blind since 2001, so not since 
> birth but the people that I first mentioned included many more, they put 
> rhythm into it because they feel it.
>
> Not everyone has rhythm and I think that is what it is, not movement in 
> general.
>
> Again, my own opinion.
>
> The biggest compliment you can pay me is to recommend my services!
>
> Cheryl Echevarria
> http://Echevarriatravel.com
> 1-866-580-5574
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>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
> To: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
> Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:13 PM
> Subject: [Blindtlk] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness?
>
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>>
>>
>> I know this topic might have been briefly brought up by me in the 
>> Blindtalk
>> (August 2008 forum).  I've asked questions of a similar nature, but I 
>> think
>> this goes a bit deeper.  If we've talked about this before, please 
>> forgive
>> me.  I hope this will spark some good discussion.  I also hope to hear 
>> from
>> folks with all degrees of blindness, especially from those who have been
>> totally blind for a long time, or since birth.  This issue is beginning 
>> to
>> affect me enough to want to try doing something about it.  Perhaps as a
>> precursor, go through the archives and look at a question I sent back in
>> August of 2008 dealing with extra hands on for the congenitally blind. 
>> This
>> goes one or two steps beyond my initial questions.
>>
>>
>>
>> As many of you know, I've been blind since birth.  I think I was raised
>> pretty normally.  From what I was told, it had been recommended to my mom
>> that as a baby that I go see a kids' physical therapist to help get me to
>> move a bit more and a bit more freely.  More than anything, she helped
>> solidify the whole "up/down and left/right" concepts, among other things.
>> That was fine, and I was up and about as any other kid was.  The whole
>> blindism thing was also nipped in the bud at a very young age as well. 
>> In
>> fact, it might have been nipped too well, because to this day, even when 
>> I'm
>> totally relaxed, I am generally one who sits quite still.  I can still
>> remember my family telling me to sit or stand still when we'd be at other
>> people's homes, stores, or other places where I was in public.  I wasn't 
>> the
>> type to really get in trouble for running around places and causing 
>> mischief
>> in that way.  While I played outside in my home area, I don't ever really
>> remember getting into trouble by just going off and exploring and
>> terrorizing other areas the way little kids I know would have done.  I 
>> was
>> pretty peaceful and content.  My thing was always trying to look good and
>> fit in with the regular crowd.
>>
>>
>>
>> I never really thought about any of that kind of thing until recently.  I
>> find myself on stage more and more, performing and playing music either 
>> by
>> myself or with two other friends.  I've begun hearing advice such as, 
>> "You
>> need to look like you're enjoying what you're doing.", or "I wonder how 
>> we
>> can get you to be more animated and move a little bit so that you're not
>> stoic."  One newspaper article recently described me as being 
>> "statuesque."
>> In fact, I might post that small blurb, because it is suggesting that the
>> reason for my way of being deals with blindness.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Also, they brought along a friend, Jim Portillo, that played an 
>> intriguing
>> electric bass ukulele with strings made of polyurethane, which gave it a
>> resonance like rubber, very rich sound for such a small instrument. 
>> Besides
>> perfect licks, he had a great classic, statue-like stance of a bluegrass
>> bassist, never wavering, and then later, it was revealed he was blind and
>> had only been playing a few weeks."
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I once took a class on stage craft, and one of the things folks liked 
>> about
>> my image the most was my smile.  I am told that a lot lately.use the 
>> smile.
>> I do, but once I'm on stage, I get so focused on what I'm doing that I 
>> end
>> up forgetting or simply not doing these things that really are attractive 
>> to
>> a visual audience.  How do blind people get more into the visual aspects 
>> of
>> things?  Of course I'm enjoying what I'm doing.  There's no greater love 
>> for
>> me than to play music with my two best friends.
>>
>>
>>
>> So, here are some questions now that you know my background.  Is a 
>> person's
>> natural movement or lack thereof affected by blindness in any way?  How 
>> do
>> totally blind people learn about movement, expression, etc without 
>> looking
>> forced or mechanical?  I have given up trying to dance because as a kid, 
>> I
>> was always told, "Oh, you look like a little robot, pretty mechanical." 
>> How
>> does one differentiate between what may look like a blindism from natural
>> and free-flowing movement?  If my friend tells me to feel free to swing 
>> and
>> sway as I play, how do I do it without looking like a Ray Charles or 
>> Stevie
>> Wonder?  Are these valid concerns or things that can or should possibly 
>> be
>> overcome to some degree, and if so, how?  Maybe I'm either too
>> self-conscious or perhaps I'm not totally aware of what some of these 
>> "free
>> forms of movement and expressions" are?  I don't know.  I'm inclined to
>> believe that sighted people learn by watching and imitation.  In my case,
>> unless someone literally shows me what to do and puts my body through the
>> motions, my interpretations may be different from what they're asking me 
>> to
>> do.  And, I'm to the point now in what I do where I don't wish to look
>> foolish or stand out in the wrong way.
>>
>>
>>
>> The good thing about all of this is that I have a whole lot of other 
>> things
>> going for me.  I do well behind a microphone in that I'm a good MC and
>> public speaker.  I'm a good promoter and can get my message across to 
>> folks.
>> And, when I'm on stage, I deliver a good sounding performance.
>>
>> My friends have been great ones and very honest with me about things.  I 
>> now
>> know that I probably stand out a bit more by not doing anything or 
>> moving.
>> Interesting, huh?  Now, if I begin working on this, I also want to look
>> natural and not fake.  I don't want to look like I've memorized a formula
>> for movement, especially to various songs.  It's Folk music, right?
>>
>>
>>
>> I look forward to a good discussion that will hopefully challenge me to 
>> go
>> further and see what happens.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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