How Strictly’s Chris McCausland is inspiring the next generation of blind dancers

It may still be early days, but this season’s breakout star of Strictly Come Dancing is also the show’s first blind contestant, Chris McCausland.

The comedian, who impressed the judges on the BBC show last Saturday with his confident and energetic cha-cha-cha, has won extra praise for overturning stereotypes about who can dance.

His success has also inspired the next generation of visually impaired youth by proving that there don’t have to be barriers to learning to dance.

Evie Roberts, 15, host of a podcast called Talking In the Dark, which aims to raise awareness of blindness and disability, said it was “really great that we now have so many disabled role models” on TV. “There are certainly more than there were twenty or thirty years ago. There is still more work to be done, but we are certainly making progress.”

She hoped McCausland’s appearance on the show would help combat misconceptions and encourage people to talk and think about accessibility.

“When it comes to disability, I think sometimes it can be that people just aren’t really trained in it, so (it’s important that they) see people like Chris McCausland and other great people with disabilities out there and doing their thing doing.”

She previously interviewed McCausland on her podcast, and the pair bonded over exchanging the “slightly unusual questions” they encountered as visually impaired people.

McCausland revealed how he was once given a £2 coin while out with his guide dog, while Evie said an eight-year-old girl once asked her: ‘How do you wake up? Does your mother love you? Are you alive?”

She said she might try dance lessons after being inspired by the show, and hoped it would inspire more visually impaired children to give it a try. “I’m really excited about the routines he will do in the future.”

Although Florence Waddington, 22, doesn’t consider herself a big Strictly fan, she has followed McCausland. “Just the fact that he’s gone and done it is pretty inspiring,” she said. “It shows people that we are human.”

Referring to Paralympian Libby Clegg’s performance in Dancing on Ice, she said she hoped more blind contestants on TV would “help with inclusion”. “You’re just showing people that if you’re visually impaired or blind, you can do things like that. There are no boundaries.”

She said whenever a blind person appeared on TV, she would be flooded with texts from family members expressing their newfound appreciation for the challenges she faces. “They say, ‘You’re so great, I can’t believe you’re doing what you’re doing.’ It’s funny. Sometimes it’s a bit patronizing, but I appreciate it.”

Grace Hill, 24, has just started learning to dance after “finally mustering up the courage and finding the right dance group for my accessibility needs”, and is overwhelmed by the impact it has had on her life.

“When you’re watching a dance piece when you can’t see it, you’re actually listening to music, and unless it’s described it’s quite silent, it’s quite isolating and can be quite frustrating.

“When the shoe turns and you are actually dancing, when you are the dancer – even if you can’t see it – it is incredibly inclusive, incredibly accessible and a beautiful experience that I never thought I would get . she said.

“You don’t think that if you can’t see movements, you’ll ever be able to copy them, control them or even make your own movements – but to be able to do that is surreal, it’s possible.”

Although Hill admitted to being concerned that McCausland would be seen as a blind person first and that his dancing came second, she found his participation positive overall.

“The misconception that dancing is not possible (for the blind) must be challenged. I think he clearly proved that in Strictly, and it’s just a matter of passing it on to the next generation,” she said.

“There is stigma, there is fear. That young little blind child who wants to be a dancer and puts on a dress and does a little twirl, we can give them the whole ‘how the hell are you going to dance, you can’t see?’ – but that is, for lack of a better word, nonsense. Once you find the space where you can do it, it’s doable.”

McCausland isn’t the only blind person in the news for their impressive achievements. Jesse Dufton wants to become the first blind man to climb Epinephrine, a 683-meter mountain near Red Rocks, Colorado, including climbing a 150-meter-high chimney section, the width of an elevator shaft, with his back against one wall and his feet against the other.

He said sighted climbers were surprised to hear he was able to tighten the bolts he needed to secure his safety rope to the rock. “The answer is a lot of practice,” he said, adding that he has to look for safe places rather than being able to see them. ‘You have to know that it is well wedged in there. If it comes straight out, you have a problem, which could be death.

Although he can no longer enjoy the breathtaking views he enjoyed before his vision deteriorated, he still appreciates the eerie soundscapes of the heights, the puzzle-solving element of climbing, along with the physical and mental challenge, and the opportunity for deep connection. with friends in remote places.

“I think people are often very dependent on their vision, and they can’t imagine what it would be like if it were taken away. I think taking away your sight enhances something I was already very good at, which is problem solving. There are often ways to do things, if you just know how.”

Although he is not a Strictly fan, he appreciates greater representation of blind people. “There’s the saying, ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it,’” adding, “That’s particularly cruel when applied to blind people.”