Disabled children fly high with Scottish Opera
Young people with physical and learning difficulties are not only singing with the Scottish Opera, they are flying too, as Channel 4 News Culture Editor Matthew Cain reports.
Few can imagine how powerful the sensation of flying must feel for those with physical and learning disabilities.
“It’s like when you get off the ground you just feel like you just go into this nice wee dream – flying as a bird, it’s nice,” said student Jack Blue.
It is all part of Scottish Opera’s AerialO programme – a series of workshops that bring professional singers and musicians together with amateurs, both able-bodied and disabled.
“The beauty of doing a project like this is you take away gravity, which for people with mobility problems means you are giving them far more movement mid-air than they would have if they were standing on the floor,” Rachel Drury, one of the project’s leaders, told Channel 4 News.
“It’s very similar to if you put them in a swimming pool – they’re supported by the water and here they’re supported by the harnesses.
“It gives them freedom – which boosts self-confidence and hopefully they’re going to have a completely unique experience.”
So why opera? Education Director Jane Davidson told Channel 4 News: “The physical resources that one employs to sing operatically are massive.”
“You have to use your voice more than when you’re normally singing because you have to put a lot more effort in to do opera,” said student Reegan Stephenson.
“Opera singers are really the top athletes of the music profession – every part of the resonating chamber and your entire body – your face and your chest – are all used,” added Davidson.
“It can be incredibly useful excercise to do. It makes them feel better – they stand more straight, the sounds coming out, all of these things.”