A blind Irish dancer feels Strictly winner Chris McCausland has “paved the way” for people with visual impairments and shown what they can do “when given the chance to try”.
Meabh Conneely, 19, from Co Galway, was born blind and had laser eye surgery as a baby which allowed her to regain 70% of the vision in her left eye, but it was unable to save her right.
At around 15 years old however, Meabh noticed a “severe drop” in her ability to see in her left eye – and it was around this age when she was also diagnosed with autism.
Her visual impairment has not stopped her from chasing her love for Irish dance however, and Meabh’s efforts have taken her to dance at open level, complete the Riverdance summer school this year and take on many workshops and masterclasses with the aim of becoming a professional dancer in the future.
Her passion even captured the attention of a lead dancer in Riverdance and one of her role models, Anna Mai Fitzpatrick, who reached out to her in 2021 – coincidentally around the time when Meabh’s spirits “plummeted” during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Meabh, who is currently a student studying Irish language, communication and translation at the University of Galway, said although learning new choreography is her “toughest challenge”, dance is her “escape” and it transforms her into her “true self”.
“Professional dance shows and the dance world in general should watch out as Chris (McCausland) has paved the way and just showed us a great example of what we as blind dancers can do when given the chance to try,” Meabh told PA Real Life.
“It takes courage to step into our world of no sight…as a blind dancer or blind individual I would definitely be using Chris as a great example to the dance community that anything is truly possible.”
McCausland became the first blind Strictly Come Dancing champion this year as he and his partner, Dianne Buswell, lifted the glitterball trophy on December 14. Meabh said having McCausland representing the blind and visually impaired community was “incredible”.
“I can definitely relate as he learns his dances similar to how I would, by feel and touch,” she said.
“I think having a public platform to raise awareness is so incredibly important and fair play to Chris on winning Strictly, he’s an icon now.”
Meabh was born blind and received laser eye surgery in Dublin when she was a baby.
Although her right eye “could never be saved”, she regained 70% vision in her left – but Meabh sadly noticed a “severe” drop in her vision when she was 15.
“They could never save my right eye but there was once a time where I had 70% vision and peripheral vision in my left eye,” she explained.
“I started noticing a severe drop in my vision in secondary school, I was 15 at the time and I didn’t think anything of it at first. I had a reading comprehension to do and I struggled immensely – it was a red flag to me that there was something seriously wrong.”
Meabh added doctors are unsure what caused her sight loss, but she has had episodes of fluid in her retina which put pressure on her eyes. Throughout her childhood though, Meabh has been a lover of Irish dance after she started the discipline aged four.
“My granny was a dancer, I started dancing after school and pretty much fell in love from the second I stepped into the school hall,” she said.
“Dancing has always been an escape for me, it was always me at my happiest and anyone who knows me knows that a ‘slip jig’ is me in my true happy place – it just transforms me into my true self.”
Dancing while visually impaired is difficult, Meabh said, but she has several methods to help her develop and learn new choreography.
Some of these include “audio descriptive moment”, which involves an instructor or partner describing a movement or section of a dance in great detail and those around her using hard shoes as Meabh finds “hearing so much easier”.
“In my case nowadays, picking up fresh new choreography is the toughest challenge on my hands,” she said.
“Not being able to see creates a huge barrier of miscommunication, confusion, misunderstanding and a lot of work on my instructors at times too. Communication is crucial.”
During the Covid-19 lockdown, Meabh found her sparkle for dancing “plummeted big time” – which also coincided with her vision deteriorating and her diagnosis with autism.
“It was frustrating at the time, but I’m glad I know and am growing to know my autistic self now as a full-time college student,” she said.
In December 2021, Meabh said Riverdance’s Anna Mai Fitzpatrick reached out to her with a “heart-warming video message” online which kick-started her passion again.
“It’s certainly not every day that one of your role models becomes a core area in your life and journey as a dancer,” Meabh said.
The following year, she went to watch Riverdance at The Gaiety Theatre in Dublin where she found the “urge to go for what (she) loved again”.
“I just started getting back into the rhythm of dancing again – I missed competing at the time but now I know I was craving performance, that’s all I wanted,” she said.
Meabh has since gone on to complete the Riverdance summer school, the annual Riverdanceathon both this year and last, as well as several workshops and masterclasses to gain insight into the professional dance world – which she hopes to enter in the future.
She said she has her instructors, Ellen and Kellie, and her friend, Katie, to thank for their part in her dancing journey as they have supported and encouraged her along the way. Irish Paralympic athlete Orla Comerford, who is visually impaired, has also “inspired” Meabh to achieve her own goals.
“Having a role model like Orla Comerford definitely pushed me to go for any given opportunity as those hurdles and challenges only make you more resilient and stronger as a person and as an athlete, both physically and mentally,” she said.
Vision Ireland, the country’s national sight loss charity, has also been a source of support and inspiration for Meabh – and she hopes they will become the charity partners for Riverdance at some point in the future.
Of her proudest achievements, Meabh said: “Though I don’t hold a competitive major title, I’m really proud that I’m the first blind dancer to have achieved and accomplished what I have at such a high level too.
“I think people presume you need vision for certain things like dancing and living independently but I’m here to prove that all you need to dance is two turned-out feet and a brain, whether neurodivergent or not.”
English (United States) ·