This is an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO is a project funded by the European Union.
This video is made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.
Hello. I’m Louise Fryer, from Utopian Voices.
In this ADLAB PRO video I will give an overview
of describing dance and opera. This is Unit 8 in Module 3.
Dance and Opera take place in the same venue
or within the same production. Strategies to describe dance
can be useful for any type of choreographed movement
including fights and aerial circus.
Opera and dance are similar as the story, if there is one,
is told musically and visually but not verbally.
In dance because there is no dialogue.
In opera because the words are hard to decipher,
whether or not they are in your mother tongue.
In many opera houses, the libretto or its translation
is displayed on captioning, surtitling units
for the sighted audience to read as they listen to the music
and watch the action. For audiences with sight loss,
who can neither see the surtitles nor the action,
the AD must provide both. It is a type of audio subtitling.
You will need to decide whether you are voicing
the original libretto or the surtitles.
Will you paraphrase or give them verbatim?
For Dance and Opera music is an important part
that you don’t want to mask with your AD.
But if you don’t speak over the music
how can you make the performance accessible?
Part of the solution lies in enhanced AD,
the Touch Tour and the AI.
The rest is solved by describing economically,
fitting the AD to the rhythm of the music
and choosing where to place it, to minimise masking.
The AI will include a synopsis.
The amount of the plot you divulge will depend on whether or not
a synopsis is included in the printed programme.
You might also include a paragraph giving a general idea
of the dance style.
The Touch Tour might take the form of a workshop where the dancers
demonstrate key steps or sequences from the show.
People with sight loss may be invited
to feel the dancers holding fixed positions,
or encouraged to try out the steps and positions themselves.
Some musical passages are sacrosanct.
Famous arias are best left alone.
You might need to describe what is happening in the orchestra pit, too.
Tell us when the conductor comes into the pit so your audience
can applaud at the same time as the sighted audience.
You might write your script in a copy of the score,
so that you can take your cues from the music.
Or synch your AD to the surtitles or the action.
For dance, technical terms are helpful:
the ballerina pliés, sinking low, heels together, knees bent.
Ensure your audience feels they’re at a ballet
not a piece of contemporary dance nor listening to a story with music.
A dance or a fight isn’t just about moves.
A description listing a sequence of kicks, skips and jumps
would become dull very quickly.
Rudolph Laban compiled a vocabulary of expressive movements
classifying moves in terms of weight, time and space.
His ideas are helpful for AD.
Think about space, how the dancers move through it.
How much space does the dancer occupy?
Time, is the movement slow, sustained and calm,
or quick, darting and impulsive?
Weight. How much force does the movement use?
Is it strong or light?
Don’t just AD what it ‘looks’ like, convey what it ‘feels’ like.
Are the dancer’s muscles tense and rippling with effort?
Is the breathing rapid and fast?
Or is there a sense of effortless grace?
That was a video about describing dance and opera,
Unit 8 of Module 3 "AD of live events".
You’ll need to allow yourself more time to script these art forms.
It’s likely to take at least twice as long as writing the AD
for a play of the same duration. It’s a challenge
but one I hope you will rise to and enjoy.
The preparation of this presentation
was supported by ADLAB PRO. Audio Description:
A Laboratory for the Development of a New Professional Profile
financed by the European Union under the Erasmus+ Programme,
Key Action 2, Strategic Partnerships.
Project number:
2016-1-IT02-KA203-024311.
The information and views set out in this presentation
are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the official opinion of the European Union.
Neither the European Union institutions and bodies
nor any person acting on their behalf
may be held responsible for the use
which may be made of the information contained therein.
This was an ADLAB PRO video.
ADLAB PRO partners are: University of Trieste,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
University of Antwerp, Adam Mickiewicz University,
RTV Slovenia, Utopian Voices,
Soundfocus and Royal National Institute of Blind People.
ADLAB PRO was funded by the European Union.
This video was made available to you on a Creative Commons licence.