A Weekend of Dance with Touchdown Company.

Tanvir Naomi BushDisability, Photography, Visual Impairment, Writing Leave a Comment

Into the dance studio we go!

A sunny dance studio space. To the foreground a dancer in an orange t-shirt is on all fours whilst another dancer slies over their back. behind them another couple are doing the same exercise.

Excellent way to make friends! Photo T.Bush (c) 2017

My eyes are finding it hard to adjust to the dark shadows of the wide dance studio space interspersed with occasional dazzling pools of sunlight. I am, however, prepped and perky and I am wearing ‘gear’ for the unknown, i.e. doubled sports bra/ tank top combo (experience has shown it to be almost as effective and certainly less painful to remove than duct-tape), track suit bottoms and huge cotton knickers. (All ladeez understand why we don’t do anything thong or nylon when unsure about potential sweat levels.)

I am already nervous-sweaty. I can feel my underarms slickening. Please don’t make that farting noise when we do pirouettes, I beg them. This is my first dance workshop since those  Jesus Christ Superstar try outs in Zambia over  20 years ago. My armpits were younger then…

Change the Narrative with ‘I, Daniel Blake’

Tanvir Naomi BushCull, Disability, Film, Writing 2 Comments

It was a packed auditorium..

A middle aged man in a dark donkey jacket and black wool hat pulled low stands defiantly with fist raised. Behind him in various black and red texts are a list of accoldes for the film

‘I, Daniel Blake’ (2016) film poster

… for the first screening of the award winning film, ‘I Daniel Blake’ at the Pound Arts Centre, Corsham last Thursday.  We had planned a full day of events around the Arts and Social Change,  part of our joint SenseAbility themed programme.  It had been months in the planning but finally the day had arrived!

Notes on Leaving from Grace

Tanvir Naomi BushDisability, Guide Dogs, Writing 11 Comments

The Leaving

A rugged coastal path on the South West Coast with a grey boulder on the right of the frame and a white fence post on a bank to the left. A black dog is running down the path towards the camera, ears flapping and dust flying. Big frin on her face!

The Leaving is Arriving!

Hey TanviLove, I should be blogging about ‘re-tyre-ing’ but I don’t really smell that concept.

Me: Okay, what do you want to talk about?

Can I explain the Leaving instead,  as we Guide Dogs go through and past and through it a few times a life-long.

Me: That sounds great. Go ahead and I’ll type.

Should we eat something first?

Me: You just had breakfast.

Did I? But I am faint with hunger.

Me: Hmmmm, look here is a treat. Now come on.  The Leaving…?

Amazing Grace and the End of an Era

Tanvir Naomi BushDisability, Guide Dogs, Visual Impairment, Writing 8 Comments

Grace Hangs up Her Harness

A young black labrador retriever cross bitch sits in the middle of the frame wearing her bright yellow guide dog harness. She has a stern expression on her face. The photographer has used a lens that causes slight distortion around the edges the picture as if one is seeing the image doubled and blurred.

A youthful Grace at work, already with that stern expression of ‘for goodness sake, woman! What now?’

Grace has retired. Yes. It is officially the end of an era. As of last Thursday my wonderful buddy and fellow academic, my guide in the dark, my morning singing, fox poo rolling, clever, funny, huge hearted, rambunctious, co-traveller in this bonkers journey, has been retired. She has been at my side for seven and a half years, guiding me past the death of my Dad, across the county and through my MA and PhD.  She has helped me make friends, taught me so much about courage and dog-ness and inspired my writing. This, for both of us, is going to be a pretty tumultuous change.

Holey Vision!

Tanvir Naomi BushCull, Disability, Visual Impairment, Writing Leave a Comment

We are back!

Guide dog Grace, a black labrador, wearing blue graduation cap and cape, sits proudly in front of similarly attired Dr. Tanvir Bush and another female graduate. All three are smiling!

Drs Tanvir, Alice Herve and Grace

Hellooooo! Goodness, I have missed you and can only apologise for the wee gap …okay, the three-year wee gap… in my Holey Vision posts! I got sucked deep down into my PhD but am now safely out the other side. And, da da DAAA…! I am a Doctor Bush of Bath Spa University! I kid you not. Grace too has weathered the storm and, now 9 years old and a little greyer, is also the proud wearer of cap and gown. The photo was taken on our graduation day with fellow Doc, Alice Herve.

But three years is a long time…

Ruth Hartley’s Birthday

Tanvir Naomi BushPoetry 4 Comments

Cheese, please!

Cheese tower of different cheese rounds mounting from large to small, to celebrate the birthday of Ruth Hartley, mother, artist and author.

Cheese!

My Mum is the artist and writer Ruth Hartley. Last week we threw her a 70th birthday party. That was because she turned 70…not because we were trying to freak her out.

My older sister baked cakes and made soups and dips and organised a tower of wonderful cheeses. There were old friends and new wines, speeches and thank yous and Silent John even sang her a song! A super do!

In which I am attacked by a speed boat and Grace plunges under a train

Tanvir Naomi BushDisability, Grace, Guide Dogs, Visual Impairment 3 Comments

I loved Greece.. I really, really did. Only there was one ineey meeny mini bikini moment where it could all have gone a bit well ..I believe the expression is ‘tits up’.


We go on this boat to see turtles. We see a turtle. We pootle a bit further around the coast past beautiful coves and cliffs like this. A couple of times the boat stops and everyone jumps off to swim and snorkel. I don’t snorkel anymore but I too dive off the side into the warm, shimmering water and then clamber back up the boat’s ladder.

Acting the Goat in Greece

Tanvir Naomi BushPhotography, Writing 4 Comments

View from Shoestrings

I apologise for the silence.  These last two weeks I have been researching the impact of tourism on the Greek economy – well, mainly my impact on the beautiful island of Zakynthos. Turns out that the major impact is on local rose wine sales which went up by at least a third…

Vision Slip

Tanvir Naomi BushDisability, Visual Impairment 5 Comments

A few years ago…well maybe more than a few…I was on a train at some daft time in the morning on my way to San Francisco.  I hadn’t slept much the night before anxious about the trip and was a bit woozy.  The carriage was almost empty and I thought no one would mind me snoring so leant down to pull out the foot rest.

Whumph!

Something seemed to both punch me in the arm and