Sensory-Friendly and Relaxed Performances Make Big Impacts on Audiences and Dancers Alike

The Royal Ballet, which just offered a sensory-friendly performance of Cinderella this December, is not alone in its move towards greater audience inclusion—in the recent years, companies such as Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Paris Opéra Ballet, and many others have started offering sensory-friendly and relaxed performances. The approach and measures taken vary slightly from one company to another, but they all strive to create a safe and welcoming environment for people whose anxiety; neurodiversity; intellectual, mental, or multiple disabilities; and neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease or Tourette syndrome make it difficult to sit still and quiet.

Shows are stripped of any visual and auditory cues that could trigger sensory discomfort, such as flashing lights, special effects, and startling noises. In The Royal’s relaxed version of Nutcracker, for example, “there is no canon explosion or gunshots in the battle scene,” says Paul Adams, access project manager at the Royal Opera House. To avoid getting audience members alarmed during last year’s Nutcracker performance, Avis gave a short, pre-curtain introduction to the entire ballet and main characters, asking the dancers to briefly take their masks off. Other companies, like Colorado Ballet, offer familiarizing experiences around the show, such as, for Nutcracker, a tutu-petting zone and opportunities to meet dancers. Importantly, theater etiquette is relaxed, leaving audiences free to communicate in their own ways, use ear defenders and fidget toys, and move in and out of the theater.

How Dancers Prepare

For a first relaxed-performance experience, “you may have dancers that are feeling slightly nervous about what to expect,” Adams says. Most companies prepare them through briefings on potential audience behavior and any production modifications, as well as open discussions about whether they should adjust artistic choices—mainly in the acting, as only minute changes are typically made to the choreography. This training has helped Colorado Ballet soloist Alexandra Wilson understand the potential impact of her actions onstage—“things that we wouldn’t necessarily think about, like how loud we clap, how loud we stomp our feet,” she says. With practice, slightly adapting the performance quickly becomes “second nature,” she adds.

Additionally, dancers onstage should be welcoming but not vigilant about the public’s reactions, says Marie Clerget, who formerly worked for the Paris-based association Culture Relax, which assists French theaters in providing relaxed performances. She advises dancers not to worry about audience interruptions, as family members/caregivers and front-of-house staff will be there to make sure that anyone experiencing discomfort will receive the support they need. “What you find is most audiences relax into it and actually are fairly settled once the show gets moving,” Adams says.  

Kevin Gaël Thomas, also a soloist at Colorado Ballet, says that, the night before a relaxed show, he visualizes that he’s performing at an outdoor summer dance festival, where people are also moving around and reacting slightly differently. This allows him to focus on staying connected to the performance, maintaining technique and artistry while being able to tell the story. To take the audience on their ballet journey, Thomas says, “try to understand the world through their eyes and connect with them at their level.” He tries to emphasize the storytelling while being a little gentler in his acting, like reducing the fear in his reaction in a relaxed performance when the Nutcracker bites his finger when he’s playing Clara’s otherwise rambunctious little brother. “There’s a greater understanding that we want to make sure that we keep them connected to the story, because any moment we can lose that attention,” he says.

The Rewards

A sensory-friendly show is a two-way learning experience, says Avis, who staged The Royal’s relaxed Nutcracker performance as a senior répétiteur: “It wasn’t just the audience watching us, but it was almost like us observing ourselves in how we deliver a performance.” Even usually reserved company members, he continues, “felt that they could just let go and really engage and do as much as they could to enable the audience to enjoy it” by making the story more evident and the characters stronger.

Sensory-friendly performances can make the dancers’ experience more enjoyable, too. “There’s so much magic in the Nutcracker,” says Wilson. “And with the lights up”—dimmed house lights are usually kept on throughout the performance—“you’re able to see that magic, how that is affecting your audience.” For example, Clerget says that it is very frequent for people to naturally mirror dancer movements and try to take ownership of what is going on onstage.

Seeing how special it is for those with diverse needs or behaviors to experience what is often their first ballet tends to motivate dancers to become advocates for sharing dance in the widest possible way. “We can educate ourselves and our community and really do this for a beautiful cause,” Wilson says. Avis says he and other Royal Ballet dancers were not distracted or disturbed by noises or movements from the auditorium during their relaxed performance of the Nutcracker. “You barely heard a peep,” he says. “Perhaps we had put them in such a good place that they were able to enjoy it without any worries.”