Saturday evening at the Arena Loire Trélazé, near Angers, around ten visually impaired or blind spectators benefited from headphones and a receiver allowing them to listen to the audio descriptor while enjoying the music of the renowned Marseille rapper sensitive to the cause of the disability.
“It’s magnificent to be able to do this, it’s a source of pride for me”slips Soprano, quoted by AFP, in the middle of his supercharged concert on Saturday October 28 near Angers: visually impaired fans benefited from live “audio description”, a first in France for a current music concert.
During this concert given at the Arena Loire Trélazé, not far from Angers, as part of the “Star Hunters tour”, around ten visually impaired or blind spectators were equipped with headphones and a receiver allowing to listen to the audio descriptor while enjoying the music of the Marseille rapper, known to be sensitive to the cause of disability.
“Usually, when I attend a concert, it’s a friend or my wife who whispers the most memorable moments in my ear,” confided to AFP Jean-Christophe Guyon, a 57-year-old musician, suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, who only has peripheral vision in his left eye. “Not only is it not smooth but it can also bother those around you”he continues, delighted that his wife sitting next to him can “take full advantage” of the concert.
“Live better in the moment”
Laëtitia Prin, 24, co-manager of a consulting company in the field of visual accessibility, suffers from the same genetic disease. But for her part she only has central vision and not at all peripheral. “My first concert was Big Flo and Olishe remembers. It was difficult for me to follow the movements of the artists on stage and sometimes the spectators would start laughing without me knowing why. Audio description allows you to better experience the moment.”
At the Arena Loire, this unprecedented mission for a current music concert was carried out by Morgan Renault, 37, author and narrator of audio description. He has been practicing this unique profession for 13 years, mainly in the world of cinema, audiovisual, theater and more recently dance.
“My goal is to be as precise and graphic as possible so that these people can have the same experience as the sighted, without encroaching on the words of Soprano”, he explains. The objective is to describe the scenography “grandiose and ambitious” of the singer, to tell how he is dressed, how his dancers move on stage or how the audience interacts with the musicians and singers, called “backers”.
“Providing access to all forms of artistic expression, a long road ahead”
The unique audio description operation was launched by the Visio foundation, based in Angers, specializing in help and assistance for visually impaired children and adults. “Our goal is to provide access to all forms of artistic expression and there is still a long way to goexplains Pascale Humbert, its director. We do a lot of audio description for films but have never experienced a concert of this nature before. The constraint is the same: knowing how to choose the right terms in a very short time.”
To prepare his narration, financed by Crédit Mutuel, the audio describer was able to view a recording of the Soprano concert, particularly visually dense, including arrival in the air from a spaceship, giant screens saturated with bright colors, pyrotechnic effects and wild choreographies.
“I prepared the framework for the first part and for the second, I went there instinctively, sensing the opportune moments to speak without polluting the concert”indicates Morgan Renaud, microphone in hand and headphones screwed on his ears, as concentrated as the artists who deploy all their energy on stage. “I especially hope that this experience will be repeated.”