Visually impaired young people learn that they can dance

It's scary enough to get up on the dance floor and attempt a waltz, do the rumba or move to a salsa beat. It can be even more daunting for the visually impaired or blind.

Lania Berger, owner of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Palm Harbor, said the blind or partially sighted can feel the freedom and joy found in dance just like sighted people.

Their remaining senses take over and they learn how to move on the dance floor and do the tango, fox trot, swing or salsa.

Males have it a little more difficult because they must work up the courage to politely ask for a dance, Berger said.

This is scary enough for a sighted person, so you can only imagine how someone who is visually impaired feels, she said.

When it comes to dancing, the male takes the lead, even when the male part of the couple is visually impaired.

Other senses take over and there are usually no problems maneuvering across the floor. The females help a little, Berger said.

The class reinforces the fact that most people with disabilities can enjoy the feelings found in dance.

It's especially important to know how to escort the girl on and off the dance floor, when one or both people are visually impaired, Berger said.

The popularity of the "Dancing with the Stars" television show has gotten people of all ages interested in learning dance styles they see on the show, she said.

Youngsters from the Port Richey-based Pasco County Lighthouse for the Visually Impaired and Blind will learn various dance styles and etiquette during a specially designed four-week camp to be held on Wednesdays in June and July.

Berger gave lessons to a group of blind and visually impaired teens from the Lighthouse in preparation for a Valentines Day 2010 dance. "The enthusiasm and excitement over the lessons was so strong," she said, Lighthouse officials decided to hold one if its summer camps at her studio.

Her studio, she noted, can handle dance classes for other visually impaired or handicapped groups.