Hi everyone and welcome to yet another review, but this one is going to be very different.

I was kindly invited by Jodie&Co to come and see ‘Feel The Beat’, a fully immersive and completely accessible dance show!

This is by far the best fully accessible show I have come across in quite some time. From the very moment you walk in the door, you are greeted by an ‘Access Guide’, and they start by asking how best they can assist you. There is a full table of samples, from props to materials that the dancers themselves are wearing in various costumes. Once the show is about to start, you are offered sighted guiding to your seat. Seating options differ, including two seats with a gap for your guide dog, single seats with space, or seats with other members of the audience around you. Under my seat, I found a fluffy cloud, which I was curious to find out the purpose of.

Once the show started, I found out that audio description was fully embedded into the show itself, featuring descriptions of the dancers, the different costumes they wore, and how their bodies were moving during various dance routines. They even described each setting as it was being set up, and what props were going to be used—for example, a large bin of cotton wool or ball pit balls. They also gave warnings for sounds if they felt the noise might disturb some people, or, in my case, warned me they were about to pour a load of plastic balls onto the floor—just in case my dog got excited, which luckily she didn’t.

Throughout all of this, they used a large amount of soft music along with soundscapes to help set the scenes, alongside lighting. This ranged from simple classical music to sounds of waves and the beach. I found this to be very relaxing and calming at times—and so did my dog! There were also various moments within the show where the audience was encouraged to come and interact by walking through the space, allowing you to become fully immersed in the setting itself. Once again, the ‘Access Guides’ were on hand to assist with this and provide sighted guiding, which I did take them up on at one point.

It was very clear from start to finish that this company truly cared about accessibility and had deeply considered all aspects of it to make sure this show was as accessible as possible. I would class its level of accessibility for people with sight loss as platinum tier, and this is the level that all shows should strive to reach.

Not to say that other shows don’t think about accessibility—certainly those that offer audio description and touch tours do—but this show went above and beyond what was required and truly excelled at it. People with sight loss were considered throughout the entire production, from writing to lighting and props. This type of show isn’t something I would usually choose to go to, as I’m more of a traditional theatre-goer who prefers plays and musicals. However, having seen this, and having been kindly invited, Jodie&Co have set the bar incredibly high for the next time I see a show like this—and I don’t think many will reach it.

‘Feel The Beat’ by Jodie&Co is a must-see for sure! If you’re like me and see this advertised and think, “I’m not sure if this is for me…”, then honestly give it a go—you won’t be disappointed.

All the dancers—Faith Prendergast, Jay Yule, and Shivaangee Agrawal—did an amazing job in making the show the top-tier standard it is. This show definitely deserves a run in London, and I can see it going far. Get your tickets now so you can say you were there at the start! I’ll leave a link to Jodie&Co’s website here.

Until next time,
The VI Critic