Performers at Osaka's Big Stage - Deafblind International

Deafblindness in OsakaCelebrating Deafblindness in OsakaOsaka Big Stage performersThe Deafblind Service Center“SMILE” was establishedin 1999 in Osaka Japanfor people with deafblindness.Organizers at SMILE havedeveloped various services so thatpeople with deafblindness can leadactive lives and can be accepted asequal member of society.We celebrated our 10thanniversary at Kadoma City Hall inOsaka, Japan, 13 November, 2010.We held four commemorativeevents during this year to raisepublic awareness about thisdisability in our region. Ourmessage is that people withdeafblindness are all around us,they have potential and the abilityto live on their own. During eachevent we featured performancesby people with deafblindness, tohighlight their abilities.In the event “5th Big Stageof People with Deafblindness inOSAKA 2010” we four-walled(self-created) a movie featuringpeople with deafblindness whoprovided musical performancesusing Japanese drums as well astraditional Japanese dancing. This‘four-wall’ movie, demonstrated tothe audience the challenges andneeds facing these individuals.While practicing for theseperformances, the most difficultpart was attempting to have theindividuals understand the soundsand the movements. Music anddance evoke various emotions,which were then associatedwith figurative expressions. Thisdemanded of them much patienceand creativity until they learnedwhat was a ‘sharp’ sound, howto make a ‘free’ sound, what is‘loose’ movement and how tomake ‘easy’ movements. It was agreat challenge to explain to theseindividuals what we, as hearingand seeing individuals, can actuallyhear and see! To do this we had tomake a lot of body contacts usingthe tactile senses.With a great deal of effort,these people with deafblindnesswere successful in gaining positiveexperiences through playingdrums and dancing. What theyhad obtained through theseexperiences was not only newskills but also new confidence.Big Stage was indeed a wonderfulopportunity for self expressionand self realization for theseindividuals.We are happy and proud thatthe audience enjoyed our Big Stageand that the deafblind individualswere able to achieve their goals.Truly it is a disadvantage to live ina world without sight and sound.At the same time, this theatricalexperience was a wonderfulopportunity for these deafblindpeople to ‘step into the other side!’In closing, we extend ourappreciation to William Green,President of DbI, who contributeda message for our commemorativepublication.Akemi FujiiSMILEwww.deafblind-smile.orgfujii@deafblind-smile.orgJan u a r y – Ju n e 2011 • DbI Review • 47