Anne, this is just a short reply to suggest that your client, who is obviously interested in the theatre, not limit himself from auditioning for musicals where there may be choreography involved, especially if he has a good voice and wants to sing. I am a legally blind person with a strong and fairly serviceable singing voice. I also experience some of the deficits in coordination often associated with congenital legal blindness. I am a choreographer’s worst nightmare. Back when I was acting, however, I have nonetheless been in several musicals where I have been required to participate in dance numbers.? I was never cast as a daring young male lead, an athlete, or in other character roles that called on me to be debonair and macho. In the roles I have played and sung, I was able to incorporate my lack of coordination into a part of the character. A good and creative choreographer can work with this, so that a dancer such as myself appears to simply be dancing in accordance with the capabilities of the character. There are a lot of choreographers out there who are not that flexible or creative, and your client will miss out on parts simply because the choreographer is not willing to work with the adaptive movement of the performer, but the field is beginning to come around concerning some of these issues. I welcome your client to the campaign

Michael Byington, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist

President of Kansas Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc.

Treasurer for Friends In Art of the American Council of the Blind

712 S. Kansas Avenue

Suite 414D-F

Topeka, Kansas 66603

(785) 221-7111

ByingtonCOMS@...

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