At the Rock en Seine festival (source in French), on the outskirts of Paris, music is not experienced only through the ears. The lights, the artists' gestures, the way they move around, their expressions and the audience's reactions also form part of the concert experience. Yet these visual elements remain out of reach for blind and partially sighted spectators.
For the first time in its history, the festival is offering live audio-described concerts this year. One show a day, on the Main Stage, benefits from the scheme set up with the Valentin Haüy Association: Miki, Djo, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Amyl & The Sniffers and The Cure.
On a dedicated platform, festivalgoers wearing headsets hear the voice of an audio describer live. But the idea is not to comment on every second of the show. The job is to step in at the right moment, without drowning out the music or the lyrics.
"I am the eyes of spectators who cannot see", explains Raphaëlle Valenti. A voice actor, writer and audio description trainer, she founded the company ZeugmaConcepts, which is devoted to developing this practice. She trains new writers and has been working for several years to make cultural content accessible.
"I mustn't intrude; I mustn't speak over an emotional moment for the singer, for instance", she continues. Her role is to seize the moments when she can step in to convey the key visual information: the artist's movements, their position on stage, their expressions, their gestures. "I will say all that, to convey the emotion."
