The Kentucky Center Blog

Access Services: Great video re: ASL interpreter who "signs" what happens on our stages

For most of us, a night at the theater is about what we hear, in addition to what we see and how the performance makes us feel. But imagine coming to see a play or a Broadway musical - and not being able to hear the actors' dialogue or the music behind a big dance number.

The Kentucky Center Access Services department coordinates American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation for many of the performances on our stages as a free service to our patrons.

WDRB recently featured this video on their website, focusing on captivating ASL theatrical interpreter Kelli Sanchez. Sanchez spends hours learning about each new production, practicing her signing as well as rehearsing facial expressions and body language, in order to enhance the audience's understanding and enjoyment of the performance they are watching.

Sanchez says her interest in learning to sign grew out of making friends with a group of hearing impaired students when she was in the fourth grade.

To learn more about The Kentucky Center's free Access Services for people with hearing, mobility and vision loss, contact the Access Services Hotline (502.562.0111) or email access@kentuckycenter.org. The Kentucky Center provides Access Services for select performances in our main building (501 W. Main), the Brown Theatre on Broadway, and at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Kentucky Center Access Services brings Hip Hop dance workshops to Harbor House of Louisville

 

 

      
The Kentucky Center Access Services Arts Access Forum (AAF) program is back in a new and exciting way. AAF begins a new chapter on April 6 when Hip Hop Dance instructor Safiyyah Rasool begins working with Harbor House of Louisville.

Links to include in the paragraph above:

http://www.kentuckycenter.org/AboutUs/AccessServices

http://beenetworknews.com/2011/10/24/the-emergence-of-safiyyah-dance/

http://www.hhlou.org/ 

Harbor House of Louisville’s mission is to enhance the lives of people with disabilities through employment, self-determination, education and community building opportunities.  The Kentucky Center Access Services AAF program will provide Harbour House of Louisville participants with six weeks of one hour Hip Hop dance workshops.  Safiyyah Rasool is a dancer and artist/educator who performs and teaches in Kentucky.

In addition to the time spent with the agency participants, artists Safiyyah Rasool will also spend time after each session with Harbour House agency staff offering ideas, planning tools, and informal education on how the agency staff can continue to offer the participants Hip Hop activities after the residencies end.

Through artist residencies, The Kentucky Center brings instrumental music, vocal music, storytelling, dance, drama, and visual art to agencies serving children and adults with disabilities in Kentucky. Through art instruction, participants can learn new skills, expand their horizons and develop a sense of self, well-being and belonging.

The Access Services Program furthers the Center’s mission of service to the Commonwealth by confirming its position as a cultural innovator committed to making the arts available and accessible to the entire community.   To learn about how to support the Center’s Access Services program, visit www.kentuckycenter.org/IndividualGiving, or call (502) 562-0159.

 

Access Services Announces Audio Description Training

 

THE KENTUCKY CENTER FOR THE ARTS ANNOUNCES TRAINING FOR AUDIO DESCRIPTION (AD) VOLUNTEERS

The Kentucky Center for the Arts is pleased to announce that training will be held for volunteers interested in enhancing the performing arts experience for guests with visual disabilities. Audio Description allows trained volunteers to describe what is happening on stage and broadcast that information directly to patrons through an FM listening device. The service can be provided for a variety of performances, including opera, theater and dance for local arts organizations.

Those interested in joining the Audio Description Team should contact Stacy Ridgway at 502-562-0711 or sridgway@kentuckycenter.org to get more information. Those selected to participate in training must be available for two and a half days on March 30th, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., March 31st from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and April 1st from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  . Pre-registration is required.  Call today, and be a part of this amazing service!

 

The Kentucky Center Access Services supported in part by the WHAS Crusade for Children, The Jacob C. Koch Charitable Trust, and the Estate of Terry Sales.

 

Kentucky Center a National Leader in Access

 
This week, The Kentucky Center is hosting the LEAD Conference. That stands for Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disabilities, and we're proud to have it here for the first time. You can read all about the Conference, and the Center's nationally acclaimed Access Services, in this editorial that appeared Monday in the Courier-Journal.

By the way, you might know someone who has vision, hearing or mobility issues that our Access Services might help. Just click here to learn more. You could help open up a new door to the arts for someone you love!

Kentucky Center Audio Description Helps People Who Are Blind "See" Theater

 

WFPL recently interveiwed The Kentucky Center's Martha Newman, Director of our Access Services, about the Audio Description program. According to Martha, trained volunteer describers broadcast what's happening on stage to small FM receivers that patrons can use for free.

The story quotes Martha as saying,  “The idea of audio description is to bring patrons with visual disabilities the same experience, or as close to the same experience, as people who don’t have visual disabilities, right down to the timing and the feel and the look and everything about it.”

The story goes on to air an example of one of our volunteers describing a recent performance at Actors Theatre (which utilizes the Center's program for their own productions). Here is a link to the entire story.

Thanks to Martha and all her volunteers for helping make the arts accessible to everyone! Click here to read an overview of the various accessibility services The Kentucky Center provides for our patrons.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

 

The Americans with Disabilities Act makes it possible for everyone with a disability to live a life of freedom and equality. Passed by the Congress and signed into law by the President on July 26, 1990, the ADA is the first comprehensive declaration of equality for people with disabilities. The ADA protects the civil rights of people with disabilities in all aspects of employment, in accessing public services such as transportation, and guaranteeing access to public accommodations such as restaurants, stores, hotels and other types of buildings to which the public has access.

The Kentucky Center and Brown Theatre are fully accessible facilities. We offer Accessible Seating and Assitive Listening System to patrons for all performances in our theaters. Additionally, services such as Caption Theatre, Audio Description, American Sign Language (ASL), Braille and/or large print programs are often available. These services are offered at no charge to our patrons.

For more information about the range of accessibility options we offer to enhance your performance experience or to receive this information in an alternate format please call 502-562-0111 (V) or 502-562-0140 (TTY) or email access@kentuckycenter.org.

You can find a full description of our services here. The 2010-2011 Access Services Performance Calendar will be posted on this page in the next week.