art theater holds dance performance show for special kids, families -凯发国际娱乐试玩

eight families with children suffering from autism or developmental retardation were invited to watch a performance, "african dance, dance together," on the square of the roewe·shanghai children's art theater recently, ahead of international children's day on saturday.

the rhythmic african drum beats and dancers' vibrant body movements drew the attention of the children and encouraged them to tap beats or dance with the performers.

it was the first formal performance at the theater to entertain ordinary and special children together as shanghai is well on its way to becoming a more child-friendly city that will not leave anyone behind.

"my daughter loves watching performances," said the mother of 8-year old tong tong, who suffers from developmental retardation.

"every time i tell her we are going to watch a performance, she gets very excited, clapping her hands and pointing to herself to show that she is glad."

lu, another mother, said her 7-year-old daughter wen wen, also with growth retardation, loves music.

"she was dancing all the time during the performance as the african music is strongly rhythmic. i'm glad to see she was fully engaged in it."

autistic yu zizhen, 11, was also extremely active in interaction during the performance, so were his parents.

"he becomes excited when you interact with him, so we purposely play with him," said his father yu tao. "obviously, music is a good way for communication, especially for autistic children."

"of course, autism has brought stress to our family, but seeing him being happy makes us happy, too. so we would like to take him to concerts and performances as often as possible."

parents said it's not difficult to take their children to performances in a city as inclusive as shanghai and they have never been rejected by theaters. but sometimes they worry about their children making noise and disturbing others.

wu ping said she and her husband had taken their 12-year-old autistic boy fei jiaqi to a concert for families at a formal concert hall.

"when he heard some unfamiliar songs, he began to make some noise and his father took him to the rest area. in the second half, we found some seats in a relatively empty area, with no one around us, and finished the concert without bothering others," she recalled.

"actually, there are few things that he dislikes. he just needs more time to understand them. if he can have more opportunities to experience more, he would like them. so we're so glad the theater is developing such programs and we would like to come more often in the future."

dong jun / shine

it's not the first time that the theater has paid attention to the needs of special children.

in 2017, it launched a charity program called "wish of starfish" to introduce immersive plays such as "storm," "down to earth" and "the gentle giant" by britain's bamboozle theater and adapted them into chinese versions for special children with autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, and down syndrome.

the program has so far staged more than 400 performances exclusively for special children, benefiting 2,300-plus families.

it was honored by the shanghai government last year as one of the innovative practices for the development of a child-friendly city.

"special or not, we always believe that every child has the right to enjoy art and culture, which is endowed by the united nations convention on the rights of the child," said shen li, general manager of the theater.

"although the 'wish of starfish' program covers a small audience, for every child that can be covered, we wish to give them 100 percent care."

shen said the theater will undergo a series of renovation to make the art space more accessible for children with special needs and make the city more friendly to every child.

foundation for autistic children

meanwhile, a charity foundation for autistic children was also established.

the yaoyang charity foundation, initiated by the red cross society of china, will provide free consultation and organize peer events for autistic children and their families.

medical experts will be invited to offer one-on-one consultation to autistic children and give mental support and skill training to their parents.

social events like sports meeting, painting exhibitions and performances will be launched to provide autistic children more opportunities to communicate with the public.

a series of mental guidance events, training sessions and donation campaigns will be organized for children's day to call for more social awareness and care for autistic children and their families, officials from the local red cross said.