Performing for spectators who can’t hear and see well: it seems useless, but it certainly isn’t. Blind people can enjoy music in all kinds of ways, notes shanty choir ‘De Skulpers’ from Castricum. “This is a performance that will stay with us for a long time,” said conductor Marcel Klaver.
Elly Beek from Almelo is partially deaf and blind and uses a translation computer during the performance. “It is still a bit difficult to follow, the writing interpreter couldn’t keep up very much, but that is also because the English is not completely flawless,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a bit of coal English.”
The holiday to Egmond aan Zee, organized by the Dutch Foundation for the Deafblind, is a godsend for her. “In many rooms they do not take into account people who are deaf and blind. Here at Hotel Zuiderduin they do. I have also been on holiday with people with other disabilities, but they do not understand what I have and then you have to explain everything, here it is not necessary.”
Vacation
Every year the foundation organizes a holiday for about 150 deafblind people and their supervisors. People with deafblindness do not hear or see well. “They can hardly function independently,” says chairman Thea Cattie. “Now they are with each other and their supervisors in Egmond aan Zee for a week and they are being pampered.”
There are different forms of deafblindness. The seriousness of the consequences depends, among other things, on the cause and form of deafblindness. Most people with deafblindness can still see or hear. A small number of people are completely deaf and blind.
Listening with balloon
Despite the restrictions, there are all kinds of ways that people can still follow the sea shanties of shanty choir ‘De Skulpers’. “There are interpreters who translate the songs, but there are also balloons on the table that people can hold on their stomach. Because of the vibrations they still feel the music,” says Thea Cattie.
Watch the concert for deafblind people below (text continues below the video)
For conductor Marcel Klaver of ‘De Skulpers’ this is one of the best performances for the shanty choir of the past 27 years. “We have sung for these people before and that performance has stayed with us the most. At first you think it makes no sense to make music for people who are deaf, but all the tools help them get a lot out of it. It’s special to see how much they can enjoy it.”