SENSORY ACTIVITIES

We looked and did exercises that were more focused on the senses and how we can take some away and rely on and wake up other senses. The ones that we looked at were especially for the blind, so in each of them we had to close our eyes and try to tune in our other sense to do the exercise successfully. I think that doing these exercise were really important to us as they enlightened us and helped us to understand the importance of the senses in performances and it showed us what it was like to be in their position so that we could appreciate what they might want or need in group situations to feel more secure. One thing that these exercises did was put us on the same level as those who are blind, so if we were to do these exercises with a group where some were blind and other weren’t everyone would be put on the same level and no-one would be advantaged in the group making everyone included and fully involved. I think that this could give some confidence to those who are blind as they know that everyone is equal to them and taking them into their world. The exercises also opened up our awareness to our other senses and allowed us to use them more than we would do in everyday situations. I found that it showed me how important senses such as sound and touch could be and how much they enhance your experiences without sight. It also made me think about how the other sense could be used in performance to make it more interesting and effective to those who are blind so that they are included and still getting an interesting and enriching experiences, arguably even more so than those who can see as they are engaging their other senses and becoming more in tune with what is happening physically or through sound.

Bottle

In this exercise a bottle was put in the middle of the room and each member of the company had to walk across the room without stopping and pick up the bottle with their eyes closed. I found this exercise really useful to use and explore as it highlighted the sense that was taken away and consequently the difficulties presented without the ability to see. This gave a very small and quick enlightenment into the world that some of the people we will be working with live in and helped us to understand, to a small degree, what it is like, putting all of us in the company on the same level. When doing this exercise I felt really disorientated and self-conscious and as a result I felt unsafe and confused during the process and I think that this was really helpful for me as it showed me how some people may feel as a result of their disability. Now I have this emotional knowledge I think it will help me to not under estimate how others are feeling and to be more in tuned to making everyone in the company feel safe and happy to be involved in the activities that they will be taking part in.

Sound  

In pairs we had to come with a sound to remember, then with our eyes closed we were moved away from each other and had to find each other again by following the sound. The main issue that was presented in this task the amount of sound being created by the other people also trying to find their partner, making it harder to pick out the sound that you are listening for. This disorientated me personally and made me feel alone and a bit panicked as I could not hear my partner. It made me think of how people who are blind may feel in crowds or busy, loud places and how intimidating it could be to some. However it also showed me how important sound can be in a sensory performance and how it can be used as a way of communicating. Also it showed me the power of sound, as when you mentally blocked out the other sounds and focused only on your one it became easier and this showed me how little we depend on hearing compared to sight yet the power that it can hold and how it can be used. This really made me think about how the usage of sound could be in a performance to enhance the experience of it as it can show distance and personality and can be used in really interesting ways to make a performance more exciting and engaging for members of the company or audience who are blind.

Feel

As a group we stood in a circle and all facing one way, with our hands on each others shoulders and eyes closed. We then had to feel each others backs and get to know how they feel, so that then we were moved away and had to reform the circle in the same order as we were before by feeling each others backs to find the person who you were originally behind. This highlighted the importance of touch as a way of identification and getting to know a person for people who are blind but also for us to get more comfortable with each other as well.