It’s been an incredibly productive year in the Dark Room in 2023!
Let’s reflect on some of our accomplishments:
Two cycles of Dark Room Ballet Intro classesfor blind and low vision students who have never had the opportunity to study traditional blind dance technique before!
The first-ever cycle of Dark Room Ballet Pro Class to support our working and pre-professional disabled artists!
Five brand new No Diagram Anatomy workshops — the two-part Arm Complex saga, the Respiratory System, and the Spinal Complex and IliopsoasComplexyet to come in December!
And all of these learning opportunities were tuition-free.
I have so much planned for 2024, including developing a brand new teacher training module for the summer, which will be the first of its kind: a formal series of workshops to help others teach traditional blind dance techniques and pedagogical audio description.
The kind of curriculum that I choose develop and teach is what I feel will serve blind and visually impaired arts community the most, and very often, I’m the first or the only teacher teaching on these topics. It’s for this reason that I have a commitment to tuition-free education in the Dark Room, because it’s how I believe I can help my community the most.
Krishna stands in the Dark Room Ballet dance studio on the taped marley floor in front of the brick wall. She’s wearing her favorite bright red wool skirt with matching sash and black blouse with eyelet design down the sleeves, and her half-sole ballet technique shoes that she wears to teach class. She is wearing her hair in the seventeenth century style she wears every day: braids wrapped around the head and sewn in a crown with a white ribbon.
The Telephone Film is currently featured in The New York Times, as part of a thoughtful piece by reporter Siobhan Burke which explores the evolution of audio description for dance.
Here is the opening excerpt:
The dancer Krishna Washburn remembers attending a performance years ago by a well-known modern dance company at a large New York City theater. Washburn, who is blind, opted to experience the show with audio description: in this case, a track that narrated the dance as it was happening, delivered through a headset.
Intended to make the performance more accessible, the voice in her ear had the opposite effect: She left the theater feeling alienated, excluded. During the finale, a work famous for its deep emotional resonance, she heard people in the seats around her crying. But the audio description evoked nothing that seemed worthy of tears.
“I’m listening to: ‘Two dancers enter stage right; they proceed down the front diagonal,’” she said in a video interview, recalling the describer’s mechanical tone. “‘Two more dancers join them.’ And I’m like: ‘Why did they get you to cry? What’s really happening? There’s something I’m not getting.’”
Washburn now looks back on that moment as a turning point — away from feeling grateful for any attempt at audio description, and toward imagining and advocating more.
The founder and sole teacher of Dark Room Ballet, a ballet curriculum designed for blind and visually impaired students, Washburn is also the co-director, with the choreographer Heather Shaw, of “Telephone,” a film exploring the creative possibilities of audio description for dance. Presented around the country since its premiere last year, “Telephone” will be screened virtually by the New York City dance hub Movement Research on Nov. 15, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.
The article continues, and includes audio and video:
(gift link, no subscription required, feel free to share)
Recent experiments in describing dance, like the film “Telephone,” approach it not just as an accessibility service but as a space for artistic exploration.
* A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 12, 2023, Section AR, Page 5 of the New York edition with the headline: Audio Description Finds Its Footing.
Our next screening:
With gratitude to all our colleagues and collaborators (many of whom are featured in the article), we would like to invite everyone to the next virtual screening of the Telephone Film, which takes place on Wednesday, November 15th at 6:30 PM (Eastern), sponsored by Movement Research.
The screening is free, but registration is required:
If the registration form is not accessible to you, please email info@darkroomballet.com to register
Please note:
This event will happen ONLINE via Zoom.
Once you register, you should receive confirmation from Movement Research and/or Dark Room Ballet with a Zoom link and access to the Telephone FilmGoer Guide online.
If you cannot attend this screening, there are future screening events that can join — visit theTelephone Film Screenings page for updated info!
Thank you for your support of Dark Room Ballet and the Telephone Film!
Are you an audio description for dance student who missed Krishna’s workshops in either 2022 or 2023?
Did you attend the workshops, but want to study again?
Krishna is presenting a limited series of five of her most foundational audio description for dance workshops in January and February 2024.
Sponsored by Movement Research, all workshops take place online via Zoom.
To register for any or all of the workshops, please write to info@darkroomballet.comas soon as possible to complete the registration process.
Saturday, January 20, 2024: Four Strategies to De-Center Sight in Audio Description for Dance
When developing audio description for dance, even for blind artists, there is an expectation that the audio describer will “say what is seen.” What if this approach isn’t adequate to express the artistic ideas of the dance? What are strategies that audio describers and dancers can reach for instead? In this workshop, students will learn four strategies to help break them out of the “say what you see” box, and also learn about a popular strategy that might be better off left on the shelf.
Saturday, January 27, 2024: The Layered Body: Self-Audio Description that De-Centers Sight
Audio description for dance has, for too long, stayed deliberately superficial and visual in its descriptions of movement performance. In this workshop, participants will cultivate the somatic skills and body awareness to describe how the body feels in movement, rather than how it looks, de-centering sight and rooting itself in visceral language.
Saturday, February 3, 2024: How it Feels: Integrating Physical Sensation and Emotion in Self-Audio Description
Emotional content is often deliberately excluded from audio description for dance. In this workshop, participants will cultivate a self-audio description practice that can help fully integrate the description of physical movement and the accompanying emotional experience.
Saturday, February 10, 2024: Experimentation in Vocal Tonality for Audio Description for Dance (original teaching date: July 15, 2023)
Most audio description used to support television and film is recorded with a neutral tone of voice. However, we here in the Dark Room propose that dance is a very different art form that deserves a different approach to audio description. Be ready to listen to some interesting examples of audio description, practice using the voice expressively, and pair sound and movement together in artistically effective ways.
Saturday, February 17, 2024: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically
Audio description for dance performances is still very rare, but that doesn’t mean that blind and visually impaired audiences should be satisfied when the audio description on offer is of low quality. Students are going to get to listen to many, many examples of audio description for dance, and talk about what works and what doesn’t work, and what we might change in order to improve it.
Announcing a new series of threeno-diagram anatomyworkshops open to all (with priority given to blind and visually impaired students), no prior experience required.
Sponsored by Movement Research, all workshops take place online via Zoom.
To register for any or all workshops, please write to info@darkroomballet.comas soon as possible to complete the registration process.
Saturday, November 18, 2023: The Dark Room Presents No Diagram Anatomy – The Respiratory System
This highly detailed workshop is a complete analysis of the organs, muscles, nerves, and connective tissues associated with the human respiratory system. In this workshop, we will use movement, touch, breathing, and conversations to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the respiratory system, but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning pertaining to how we breathe. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop. No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!
Material covered in this workshop will include:
The organs and organ components of respiration
The muscles and nerves tasked with facilitating respiration
The biochemical processes of respiration and how they affect the body
The connective tissues that support the respiratory system
All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop.
This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.
Saturday, December 9, 2023: The Dark Room Presents No Diagram Anatomy – The Spinal Complex
This highly detailed workshop is a complete analysis of the spinal complex, which includes the skeletal spinal column, the spinal cord and related nerve plexuses, and the layers of musculature that enable spinal movement. In this workshop, we will use movement, touch, and conversations to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the spinal complex, but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning pertaining to our spines. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop. No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!
Material covered in this workshop will include:
The bones of the spinal column
The connective tissues of the spinal complex
The spinal cord itself and its emergent nerve plexuses
The layers of torso muscle that act on the spine and create movement
All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop.
This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.
Saturday, December 16, 2023: The Dark Room Presents No Diagram Anatomy – The Iliopsoas Complex
This highly detailed workshop is a complete analysis of the iliopsoas complex and surrounding pelvic tissues, including the components of the pelvic floor. In this workshop, we will use movement, touch, and conversations to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the spinal complex, but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning pertaining to our spines. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop. No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!
Material covered in this workshop will include:
The skeletal framework of the iliopsoas complex and pelvic floor
The muscular components of the iliopsoas complex
The connective tissues of iliopsoas complex and pelvic floor
The nerves and nerve plexuses of the iliopsoas complex and pelvic floor
Overview of the organs associated with the pelvic floor
All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop.
This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams
*All of these No Diagram Anatomy topics were requested by current Dark Room students! If you are a current or prospective Dark Room student who wants a nitty-gritty anatomy workshop on a specific part of the human body, Krishna will honor your requests for her next semester of courses!
Image description: A workshop informational poster, anchored at the left with an an abstract image of two dancers with blurred features, wearing flowing, sleeveless, rainbow-colored dresses. A third dancer is just out of frame, and additional arms are visible, along with slender legs and pointed toes.
On black and white backgrounds, contrasting text reads:
DARK ROOM BALLET WITH KRISHNA WASHBURN Announcing a new series of 3 no-diagram anatomy workshops open to all (with priority given to blind and visually impaired students), no prior experience required.
This is a one minute video of a ballet partnering class at a pre-professional ballet school. The students are teenagers who are on their way to professional careers in the major international ballet companies. Here’s a brief summary of what happens in this video.
The teacher, Slawek, is a professional danseur and the instruction he is giving is primarily directed to the boys in class. He invites one of the girls, Tessa, to help him demonstrate a complex partnering exercise to the pairs of students. He crouches down and Tessa takes a seat on his shoulders, her bent legs draped over his chest. His verbal instructions are, while he is partnering with Tessa, “You go like this: one, two, three, and out.” He turns to the boys and says, “Does that make sense?” He doesn’t wait for the boys to say anything to him, and continues: “So hug this leg, help her a little bit at the start with that one.” Immediately, each of the three pairs of students try to replicate what Slawek and Tessa did together, but none of them succeed. They all get confused and something goes wrong. The third boy gets particularly confused, so Slawek calls for Tessa to partner with him, but that doesn’t help. Slawek’s voice sounds frustrated. The title of this video is “The chaos of teaching a duet,” and the video does not disappoint. How exasperating for this teacher to have students that are so clueless and chaotic, the video seems to imply. I’m here to say, as a fellow ballet teacher, that these are actually great students, focused and trying very hard, and this teacher needs to think about the descriptions he uses when teaching.
Let’s analyze what Slawek and Tessa do in their single demonstration to the class. Tessa is seated up on Slawek’s shoulders. They are both facing the mirror (and the photographer). The first thing that Slawek does is hug her right leg with his right arm while pushing her left leg off of his left shoulder. Pushing Tessa’s left leg off his shoulder makes Tessa rotate ninety degrees around Slawek’s upper body, until she is seated just on his right shoulder with her torso facing his head. This movement is what Slawek calls “One.” Once Tessa is seated on Slawek’s right shoulder, he wraps his left arm around the back of her waist and rolls her over the front of his chest, so her torso is pressed against his left side. He is still lightly supporting her on her right leg, but is mostly holding her up at her waist now. This step is what Slawek calls “Two.” Finally, Slawek places both of Tessa’s feet on the floor while rotating her torso to face the front of the room and lets go of her right leg completely. This step is what Slawek calls “Three.” Finally, Tessa rotates both of her heels (fouette chasse) so she and Slawek are both facing the right side of the room, and with his hand still lightly on her waist, they chasse forward together simultaneously. This is what Slawek called “And out.”
Now, let’s analyze what the boys do with their partners. All three boys start out correctly, pushing the left leg of their partners off their shoulders, but they all go awry in the same way. They all get stuck holding their partner’s right leg off the floor, so they can’t finish the sequence with the chasse together. The third boy gets so stuck, his partner can’t even roll over his chest, and even when Tessa is called to help him, he’s still stuck holding her right leg and doesn’t know what to do. All three boys made the same mistake. Why did that happen?
The title of the video and Slawek’s tone of voice implies that it’s because the students don’t know what they are doing and are at fault. I’m here to say: If three of your students make an identical misunderstanding, it is certainly the fault of the teacher. Let’s analyze how Slawek chose to explain this complex sequence to his students. If you analyze what he does and what he says, there’s really only one truly unambiguous instruction that he gives to the boys: hug this leg. All three boys did exactly that: they all hugged their partner’s right leg. However, at no point did Slawek say when the boys should let go of their partner’s leg, or even explain that it is a gradual release. They all did as they were told and hugged those legs! The third boy, with whom Slawek demonstrates the most frustration, took this instruction so seriously, that he was hugging his partner’s leg so tightly, she got stuck on the front of his chest! The third boy was actually the best student and took his teacher’s instruction the most literally, and he ended up having the hardest time!
The people who study Intro are adults that are visually impaired or blind, and many of them don’t have prior knowledge of the basic movement principles of ballet. I remember my question and answer times during my early cycles of Intro, and very often, there would be one or more students with a major misunderstanding from the lesson. I recall in particular an early Intro question and answer time in which one student got the impression that in ballet, the foot always needed to be in the pointed shape, even when standing on the foot. I remember being really concerned about this misunderstanding, but then I reflected on what I’d said in class: “In ballet, we are always pointing our feet.” I neglected to say that actually, in ballet, we are always pointing and unpointing our feet, our feet are always changing shape, pointing and relaxing, as we do our footwork in class. Now, I always explain both pointing and unpointing, and no other student has had the same misunderstanding. I knew immediately that my student’s misunderstanding was my failure to explain adequately. We point and unpoint our feet, we hug this leg and gradually release it. Maybe the reason why I knew to reflect on the language I had chosen is because I have a Master’s of Education, which is something very uncommon in dance instruction in the United States. Something that I know for sure is that question and answer times for Intro these days are mostly about checking comprehension, or exploring detail, or considering applying ballet logic to our unique physical experiences, and I almost never have major misunderstandings anymore. Why is that? Because I reflect after every class, every conversation with a student, every cycle, and think about ways to be more precise. I’m sure that after teaching another eleven cycles of Intro, my language will be even more precise!
Many of my students have had educational experiences in which teachers have blamed their misunderstandings on their own failures as educators. In particular, disabled people studying with teachers who don’t want to reflect on their teaching style have this experience a lot. I’m here to say that I’m of the opinion that if teachers, especially movement teachers, take the work that they do seriously, they must reflect on their work and take responsibility when their students misunderstand.
If you misunderstand your dance teacher, and you don’t get clarification when you ask for help, and you feel inadequate or clueless after a lesson, that is not your fault! Your dance teacher owes you reflection, owes you consideration, owes you precision and explanations, no matter if you’re a teenager on track to becoming the next big star with American Ballet Theater or a blind adult on a path to self-actualization as an artist. That is what dance teachers owe to their students.
Black and white image of “Telephone” dancer Christopher "Unpezverde" Núñez as he stands in an empty dance studio, wearing all black and a white mask. Christopher has a wide stance with bent knees and his arms reach down, palms open, torso slightly bent forward.
Text added to image reads:
TELEPHONE FILM
VIRTUAL SCREENING VIA ABILITIES DANCE BOSTON
SUNDAY
SEPT. 17th
2 PM (EDT)
GENERAL ADMISSION $25
FREE TICKETS
ALSO AVAILABLE
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT
LINK IN POST/BIO
The next screening of the Telephone Film will be taking place VIRTUALLY via Abilities Dance Boston on Sunday, September 17th at 2 PM (Eastern Time)
As a member of the Dark Room Ballet community, we would like to invite you to this VIRTUAL screening hosted by Abilities Dance Boston, which describes the event as follows:
“Telephone” is an activist screendance documentary celebrating emotionally rich, poetic audio description for dance, which allows blind and visually impaired people to be included fully in the joy of artistic expression.
The first of its kind, Telephone was created specifically with a visually impaired audience in mind, while facilitating an immersive sensory experience for audience members of all sight levels. Featuring diverse disabled and non-disabled artists from across the globe, the film demystifies and legitimizes audio description, not just as an access tool, but as a beautiful, rich art form in its own right.
Join us virtually over Zoom with Abilities Dance Boston to experience the forty-five minute film, followed by a talkback with the co-directors, choreographer/filmmaker Heather Shaw and Dark Room Ballet Founder Krishna Washburn.
A visually impaired dancer (Krishna Washburn) stands during an outdoor Butoh dance performance in Times Square in 2019. A large crowd of people watches behind her, separated by a barrier.
She is dressed in a long-sleeved white top and white dhoti with blue trim, with her black hair in a long braid that goes down the front of her right shoulder. Her gaze is somber as she holds her white cane and a red rose against the front of her body with her left hand, with that arm bent at the elbow (Photo by Michael Blase)
A message from Krishna:
Next Monday, please come dance with me in a virtual Open Level Ballet Class to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of September 11th.
Like a lot of native and longtime New Yorkers, I always remember this day as a time of fear and tragedy, but also of solidarity and immense courage.
I’m sharing a photograph from 2019, when I participated in a memorial performance for families affected by 9/11.
Taking place in Manhattan’s Times Square, the group performance was an offering organized by Butoh choreographer Vangeline, in which I appeared as the lead ghost.
This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.
Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.
If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, you MUST contact us by no later than September 5th, so you can complete the intake process to register for this class.
Register:
The next Intro Level cycle begins on Saturday, September 9th, 2023.
You can also reach Dark Room Ballet by phone at (929) 367-0025
(If you have recently contacted us, we have received your message.)
If you have some ballet experience, you may also qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.
Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.
If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.
If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.
Other Classes in the Dark Room
In addition to online Introductory and Open Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults, Krishna often teaches workshops on related topics open to everyone, including anatomy, improvisation and audio description.
Top image as shared and described on social media: A white flyer with black and white text that is placed around a stylized black line drawing of a dancing body, standing on one leg with a knee bent, back arched with one arm above the head and the other extended to the side.
Text reads: Dark Room Ballet with Krishna Washburn Introductory Ballet For Blind and Low-Vision Adults (no prior knowledge required) Starting Sept 9th 8 Saturdays 4 PM to 6 PM (New York Time) All Dark Room Ballet classes and workshops take place online via Zoom – visit darkroomballet.com or LINK IN BIO for more info!
The next screening of the Telephone Film will be taking place IN-PERSON at the Theater for the New City in Manhattan on Tuesday, August 15th at 7 PM (Eastern Time)
As a member of the wider Dark Room Ballet community, we would like to invite you to this IN-PERSON screening hosted by the Theater for the New City, which describes the event as follows:
Telephone Film is a disability arts film project bringing awareness to audio description for dance, an art form that allows blind and visually impaired people to be fully included in the joy of artistic expression.
Telephone showcases audio description as an art form in its own right, while also providing an immersive sensory experience for audience members of all sight levels.
The screendance documentary is the first of its kind, featuring diverse disabled and non-disabled artists who have come together to prove that: dance is visceral, not merely visual.
Join us at Theater for the New City to experience the forty-five minute film, followed by a talkback with the co-directors, Dark Room Ballet Founder Krishna Washburn (who will join virtually) and choreographer/filmmaker Heather Shaw.
Both co-directors will answer your questions and share about the filmmaking process, the future of anti-ableism in the arts, and more!
The film includes audio description, American Sign Language and open captions. ASL Interpretation will also be included in the Q & A portion of the event.
To attend this IN-PERSON film screening:
Tickets are $20 each (plus a $3 convenience fee)
Once you purchase a ticket online, you will receive a confirmation from the Theater for the New City, as well as access to the Telephone FilmGoer Guide online.
Image originally shared on Instagram: On a purple background, a white stylized continuous line drawing shows a dancer standing on one leg with the foot en pointe (on tiptoe) with the other leg bent at the knee, foot pointing back. The dancer's back is arched, head thrown back and arms spread out wide at the shoulders.
On each side of the dancer white text reads:
70+ people have attended the Dark Room Audio Description for Dance Summer Workshops ... so far!
Join us at LINK IN BIO
or DARKROOMBALLET.COM
70+ people have attended the Dark Room Audio Description for Dance Summer Workshops so far!
There are 4 workshops to go — join us again or for the first time. Students at all levels of vision, dance and audio description experience are welcome!
🎙️ Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance
✍🏼 Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways!
🤔 Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically
🩰 Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description
Some of Krishna’s thoughts from recent workshops that social media doesn’t have:
Describing from physical sensation: Whether you start from the inside, or need to start from the mirror with the goal of finding what’s inside, remember that being able to identify and describe physical sensation is a learned skill that comes with practice, just like dancing, just like describing. Personally, I think that spending time thinking about how movements feel in our bodies has intrinsic value, a way of learning about ourselves and learning to trust our bodies and our perceptions. Even if you’re an audio describer exclusively, having understanding, knowledge, and empathy for physical sensations in your own body will only help you in cultivating your skills of describing other people’s movements.
Describing who is dancing: All dances are different and all dancers are different! Always know the names and pronouns of the dancers in the performance you are describing, and it is a common thing in dance performance for performers to portray characters whose names and pronouns are not their own! When a performer is in character, use the character’s name and pronouns, but if someone is dancing as themself, using the dancer’s real name and pronouns is a simple and incredibly helpful addition for your audience. And for dancers: when you are performing, think about your role in the performance, what you contribute to the piece as a whole, and think about how to explain it in words.
Describing emotion: Remember that emotion is why dance exists! Emotion is the birthplace of dance, and everyone deserves to share in that experience. Conversations between audio describers and dancers, choreographers, and the entire creative team can be incredibly fruitful when it comes to emotional communication. Emotional expression is a wonderful and fascinating thing, because all humans experience it, but each one of us expresses it outwardly in our own, unique, authentic way; dance combined with strong audio description can be an incredibly powerful tool for empathy.
Describing within a structure: I know that it is common for audio describers to have very limited access to dance rehearsals, maybe just dress rehearsal at best, but just because it’s common, that doesn’t mean that it’s good. If you are an audio describer who can ask for more time and more access, please do it! You deserve it and your audience deserves it. If you create dance performances, start thinking about audio description at the start of your rehearsal process, not the end! Some of the most wonderful art created for blind audiences today had an audio describer in the rehearsal studio on day one (shout out to Kayla Hamilton!). Having an audio describer as a part of the creative team is something I advocate for.
