'It's been so heart-opening'

Weekly lessons have been a lifeline for students living with vision loss

- ANDREW JOE POTTER

Dance instructor Allison Beula teaches a class for students with vision loss at the West Neighbourhood House.

It’s a cloudy afternoon on Dundas Street West and, if not for pedestrians excitedly passing by with cardstock eclipse glasses in hand, it would be any other Monday in April. As most of the city gathers on street corners and rooftop terraces to marvel at a once-in-a-generation celestial event, dance teacher Allison Beula is in the basement of the West Neighbourhood House community centre, setting up rows of black plastic chairs.

Myra Rodrigues, in her early 80s, is half an hour early for the weekly Vibe-Balance dance class. Rodrigues waits patiently, her crisp floral blouse betraying no sign that she returned from a trip to Calgary at 1:30 that morning. “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” she says, smiling at Beula. Later, Rodrigues’ classmates will echo that sentiment; this is the event they build their week around.

A career dance instructor and occasional actor, Beula will soon lead her group of seven middle-aged pupils through a series of simple movements with names like “Broken Wrist,” “The Swim” and “Wheels on the Bus.” For the students, it’s equal parts exercise class, creative outlet and social gathering.

That spirit of inclusivity is especially important since each student in Beula’s dance class possesses a degree of vision impairment. Some have been fully blind since birth; others have only recently experienced partial vision loss. Several are also hard of hearing or have mobility issues, so each dancer requires slightly different accommodations.

Service dogs wait patiently as their people dance.