[nabs-l] Can a person's movement be affected by blindness?

[Andi]

I am sorry this message is late to the list, but I have been having trouble 
with my email and it not letting me reply.  This is a topic I know well and 
have had many discussions about it with friends both sighted and blind.  I 
as well as my sighted friends have noticed that most all blind people are 
generally more stiff than sighted people.  I am not meaning this as an 
insult but there is a degree of unnaturalness to the way most blind people 
move especially those who have Benn blind from birth. I myself was slightly 
stiff and my sister would try to explain how to look more natural.  It just 
didn't make since to me.  How could I look unnatural when I was moving in a 
natural way to me.  I felt more unnatural moving the way she told me to move 
it felt foreign.  But in tenth grade I joined the dance team at my school. 
We competed in modern, hip-hop, Swing, classic and latten ballroom.  All of 
which helped, but the latten ball room helped the most.  At first like 
anyone learning dance for the first time it felt unnatural and forced as you 
have to think about the steps and movement as well as the positioning of 
each part of your body.  This is true for sighted people as well.  However 
eventually muscle memory takes over, and you don't have to think about the 
movement, the longer I danced the more it felt natural.  And the more it 
felt natural to dance the more I realized what people meant when they said I 
was stiff.  I felt it myself and the dancing helped my everyday movement.  I 
am not saying I now move my hips in the way one does for a salsa when I 
walk, but I feel the looseness of my muscles and how I should move.  Most 
people can't tell I am blind if they don't see my cane.  Swing was also a 
big help as all the movements are exaggerated, and  cartoonish.  You 
probably are wondering how that helps me to look natural, it is the way it 
loosens your muscles and helps you to feel exaggeration so you know what it 
feels like.  because I think a lot of blind people are afraid to do what 
would be considered normal for fear of looking to exaggerated.  If you can 
feel exaggerated movement you can better know what is not.  I know this is 
different than for the stage where you want to look exadurated but this is 
for every day life.  Many sighted people can tell a person is blind even if 
they have no cane and know exactly where they are going, because they are 
just to stiff even if it is just a little stiff it is their.  I recommend 
dance for anyone who wishes to look more natural, and don't think because 
you don't feel like you move unnatural you arnt stiff because I thought my 
sister was being to critical and she was write.  It is something you have to 
feel for yourself.  I am not saying all blind people are this way I know 
many who are not and I don't know if you are or not, but I have notice most 
blind people are at least who I have met.
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 1:13 PM
To: "Jim" <jp100 at earthlink.net>
Subject: [nabs-l] 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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