Seeing dancing hands-on through a cultural mindset I realized the
effects that motion and dance has on people, and what it is believed to do; I
wonder how handicapped people are viewed in this society. Not being handicapped, I cannot really connect
myself with the ailment in a personal sense, but I wonder how handicapped
people are viewed in Jamaica’s society of movement and dance. Are they frowned upon? Ridiculed? Or embraced to try to accomplish the
different dance moves that are a part of
a big dance oriented culture that Jamaica has to offer.
In pondering this, I thought of my best friend that had been shot and is in a wheelchair. I can only imagine the toll it would take on him living in the self-proclaimed “dance capital” of Jamaica. I thought of this because in Jamaica I haven’t seen any physically handicapped people and with the knowledge that I gained about Jamaica’s unique dance culture, I still wonder how handicapped people are treated. Are they embraced to try to dance or just put off in a corner to watch and hope to join their brothers and sisters in dance one day? I can only wish that handicapped brothers and sisters are embraced, but that’s not always the reality.
In conclusion, I can only have
faith in the hospitality that was shown to me, to be shown to handicapped
people trying to dance.
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