Acid Survivor perfoming with dancer Valentino (Photo by Gabriel Buule)
Indeed inclusion is a right not a privilege as it was the theme when people with special abilities thronged National Theatre to showcase their talents at an annual dance and arts festival dubbed Unseen Dreams.
From tap dance show-cased by youngsters with visual impairment from Bunga School for the visual impaired to contemporary ballet dance, people with special abilities showcased amazing talents through music and dance.
People with special abilities from Kampala School choreographed by Ednah Namanya (Photo by Gabriel Buule)
In a wheel-chair and battling Down syndrome, Sandra K of Kireka School of special needs sang Rema’s ‘Banyabo’ and was later joined by friends in nearly a similar situation to dance to Los Del Rio’s ‘La Macarena’ guided by dancer Ms. Joanah Jojo Nambalirwa.
The event addressed inclusion in many ways and proved wrong those that assumed that some dances were hard for them to pull off. They listened and acted with ease that even the hearing impaired easily followed the music rhythm while dancing.
(Photo by Gabriel Buule)
When asked how people with hearing impairment would dance to music, Unseen Dreams choreographer Ms. Ednah Namanya said, “Ears don’t dance.” Several groups of people with hearing impairment dazzled with dance. Students of St Mary’s primary Wakiso pulled off strokes of the trending Ghanaian ‘Shaku Shaku’ dance that wowed the audience.
Perfomance by women with albinism in Kampala (Photo by Gabriel Buule)
The executive director of Unseen Dreams Mr. Kenneth Desire Tereka noted that the annual festival seeks to use arts to promote inclusion of all individuals.
“The objectives for the festival include; improving access to resource, equal participation, and public sensitization, encourage free forms of information flow , skilling and attain inclusion among people with special abilities ” Mr. Tereka emphasized.
People with special abilities from Kampala School choreographed by Ednah Namanya performing (Photo by Gabriel Buule)
The activities done under Unseen Dreams include; dance trainings, reach outs, connecting the differently abled with donors, providing platforms for performance and showcasing, counseling among others.
