Dance like nobody is watching

Who doesn’t like to shake a leg at pubs or nightclubs from time to time But what about those who don’t have functional legs Or eyesight for that matter Fret not, say social workers and entrepreneurs, Rachana Iyer and Rohan Sabharwal, who are making the dance floor diffabled friendly. Their group, called CraYon Impact, has been going around to corporates, pubs and even basements (their last event was in the basement of House of Wow) to conduct workshops that work on just one simple idea — making dance friendly to disabilities by adopting interesting ways such as using a blindfold or a wheelchair.

The idea, says Rohan, was very simple. “We never quite liked the idea of people looking at differently-abled people with sympathy. There are some efforts being made (although not enough) to make everyday aspects more diffabled friendly. However, when it comes to having fun, there are almost no options for them. There are hardly any pubs or restaurants in the city that cater to their special needs. So we thought, why should they be left out of the fun and that’s how the idea of Dancing in the Dark started.”

Dancing in the Dark – A once a month workshop started by Rachana and Rohan is making waves in the city for its unique concept. Everyone who comes to learn dance has to wear a blindfold – diff-abled (differently abled) or not. “This is not just to make people understand dancing from the perspective of a visually impaired person, but also to make it more fun,” says Rachana about the intention behind the idea. “The idea came when a friend of ours told us about this dancer Stefi Joseph, whose visual impairment had forced her to give up dancing. We got her on board to conduct this workshop and the very first one, which we conducted on Women’s day, was a big success. The crowd was a mix of those with and without visual impairment and initially, everyone without visual impairment was slightly disoriented. However, by the end of the workshop, they came and told us how differently they thought of visual impairment after the workshop, since they were using their other senses more,” says Rohan.

While their efforts are bringing a much-needed change, Rohan and Rachana tell us what makes it even more special and say, “We are not looking at this as a social initiative. The idea is to make something good like this also financially viable. In fact, in all our workshops, everyone involved has always gone home financially satisfied – including us.”

So far, Dancing in the Dark has been conducted in several venues across the city such as House of Wow. “But we want to take this idea to corporates, which is where it is more needed. They, more than the NGOs, are the change-makers,” says Rachana, who adds that while the journey to make dance in the city diffabled friendly is still a long way, they’re willing to go the distance.

For more details on the workshop, contact: 8828364312/ 9167043310