Taal

Mission

Make performing arts accessible for all.

The challenge

There are about 1.5 million blind children worldwide, and this number appears to be growing. with many lacking access to performing arts education, which is vital for developing motor skills, enhancing body awareness, and boosting confidence. This disparity became evident to me when a young girl at a cancer home responded to my question about her future aspirations with, "What could I possibly be?" Determined to make a difference, I co-founded Neysa, a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching performing arts to underprivileged communities in India, impacting over 500 children and elderly individuals. Building on this experience, we aim to extend our reach to visually impaired children, providing them with accessible dance therapy to promote holistic well-being and empowerment.

The solution

"Taal," (meaning Rhythm in Hindi and language in Dutch) is a card game designed to empower the visually impaired through the transformative power of performing arts, specifically dance therapy. Taal consists of two decks of cards (one with a dance movement and one with tactile features), and a textured mat (with tactile features) to be identified. It can be played individually or with multiple players. The player picks up the card from each deck, then they have to identify the texture on the mat and perform the dance movement. The one that gets through the deck first, wins! The movement cards have the name of the movement in braille, a large perforated image so that people with various degrees of imparity follow it.