Workshop: Dance and Audio Description

Together with the University of Hildesheim, REAL DANCE is offering a workshop on the topic "Dance and Audio Description", which will be led by dance researcher Dr. Anna Wieczorek and dance maker Naomi Sanfo-Ansorge. 

Audio descriptions make theatre and dance performances accessible to blind and visually impaired audiences. Audio description is used to describe what is happening on stage during the performance. This gives blind and visually impaired people access to the visual elements of a play, including movement, gestures, facial expressions, stage design, costumes and props.

In the case of dance, this is associated with major challenges because processes cannot be described 1:1. Instead, other ways of translation must be found. Together we will practise describing dance using various exercises and gain insights into production processes that work with audio description. 
 

The workshop will be developed on the basis of an exercise with students from the Institute for Media, Theatre and Popular Culture at the University of Hildesheim and will be held together with them as part of the festival. In addition, it offers space for ten representatives of the dance scene who are interested in getting to know the basic elements of audio description and practicing the artistic description of dance.


Dr. Anna Wieczorek is a dance researcher, dramaturge and currently a research assistant with a focus on dance at the Institute for Media, Theatre and Popular Culture at the University of Hildesheim. In her research, she is always interested in the intersection between theory and practice, especially in relation to topics such as scores/notations, mediation, aesthetics of access/dance and audio description.

Naomi Sanfo-Ansorge is a visually impaired performer, AD dramaturge and dance pedagogue. In addition to her work on her own productions, Naomi Sanfo-Ansorge accompanies and advises various dance (theatre) productions in the development of audio descriptions. Among other things, she researches aesthetic means that make performing arts a multi-sensory experience for everyone.