Dance, Health & Fitness Specialists
for People with Sight Loss
The top of the page shows the Illuminate freedom logo – purple and blue
writing with a man in a chair with a cane exercising and a woman standing
and spreading her arms to the side with wide fingers
Illuminate Freedom create exciting and inspiring
programmes of dance and fitness and run social
events for people who are blind and partially
sighted.
We aim to empower our participants both on a
physical and on an emotional level, to
participate in activity, increase their body
awareness and confidence, and to feel fantastic
in their own skin.
What Do We Do?
We run a number of classes and services for people with
sight loss:
• Dance – Group & One to One Classes
• Personal Training & Group Fitness
• A Gym Buddy Service
• Weight Loss Programmes
• Nutritional Therapy
• Massage & Yoga
We also organise monthly “Freedom Events” and provide
consultancy on dance movement for organisations
How Do We Do It?
All of our classes use clear and exciting language,
instruction and pacing that enables them to be fully
inclusive of each participant, no one is ever left
behind.
We understand many of the processes, issues,
thoughts and emotions that come with having sight
loss.
We also understand the fear that can often be
attached to doing exercise, physical activity, dancing
and even socialising.
Our Dance Classes
Blind Street Dance
Commercial Street Dance is a funky and
exhilarating dance movement style that allows
you to throw caution to the wind and just move!
In this class you learn a range of new routines,
develop your own movement style, coordination
and freedom of expression and have bucket
loads of fun!
Blind Street Dance
Image of Louise teaching 12 blind men and women – they
smile as they learn the dance routine and shake their hips!
DITCH THE WORKOUT - JOIN THE
PARTY™
New for 2016!
ZUMBA® Fitness is a fun, effective, easy-tofollow, Latin-inspired, calorie-burning dance
fitness-party that’s moving millions of people
toward joy and health.
One-to-One or Two-to-One
Dance Classes
Just you or you and a friend:
• Move at your own pace
• Take time to build your confidence
• Ask as many questions as you want
• In a location of your choice
Image of Louise working one to one with Maria Oshodi, they are facing each
other and Louise is holding Maria’s hands to demonstrate the feel of street
dance move “the wave”.
Personal Training
Why book a Personal Training Session?
Whether your desire is to lose weight, feel fitter
and healthier or avoid niggling injuries or poor
posture when you train, we can help you to
achieve your goals in fun, motivational and
inspiring workout sessions.
Home Comfort
We also offers one to one private support and
attention in the comfort of your own home.
We have the necessary expertise and equipment
to bring to you a personalised, unique
and uplifting session, without you even stepping
foot out of your front door. This can allow you to
can gain confidence at your own pace, or free up
your travel time to use for other things.
Gym Buddies
Our Gym Buddies semi-assist your gym workout.
We can help with operating machinery, locating
gym equipment and any other reasonable
assistance that you require, leaving you to
independently enjoy your workout, stress-free.
We can arrange our attendance at most Londonbased gyms.
Weight Loss Programmes
If you want to lose weight, we can help you with
a structured dietary plan to improve your eating
habits and a high cardio workout to help burn
off those pounds.
Hate the gym? We also use Dance Fitness!
Massage Therapy
Whether you have sore muscles, niggling pains
or just want some relaxation time, we offer a
range of massage therapies.
Nutritional Therapy
Nutritional Therapy can be helpful in
counteracting stress, ridding the body of toxins,
and restoring nutrients which have been
malabsorbed or robbed from the body.
Simple approaches may include the use of
vitamin and mineral supplements to combat
stress, replace deficiencies, and support the
immune system.
Our classes and sessions help people
to:
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•
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•
•
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Improve Physical and Spatial Awareness
Receive Postural Assessment and Corrective Exercise
Move Taller with More Confidence
Increase Strength, Stamina and Endurance for Daily
Life
Feel Fitter, Stronger and Healthier
Learn more about Eating Healthy and Healing Foods
Have Fun and Meet New Friends
Feel More Confident and Look Great on the Dance
Floor
Most Importantly for Us - Feel Physically Empowered
Freedom Events
Encouraging you to leave the snugly comfort of home, we
bring you:
Illuminate Freedom’s monthly 'Freedom Events'
Venture out with us to enjoy socialising, music, activities
and dancing.
We'll arrange meeting up and returning to transport links
and do our best to ensure everything is, as it needs to
be, leaving you to just have a great time and socialise,
worry-free.
Past Freedom Events
The Silver Bullet, Finsbury Park
Buffet, great music and lots of dancing
Grand Union Bar, Brixton
A quirky venue with outdoor heated huts, great food and cocktails followed by an evening of dancing
The Forge, Camden
A Cuban Salsa Jam! South American Food, wonderful friendly and helpful staff, live Cuban music and
salsa dancing
Contemporary Dance Performance by State of Emergency, Deptford
A great show with excellent and inspiring audio description and the best Touch Tour some had ever seen
Soul Night, Wimbledon Park
An evening of wonderful and inspiring live performances featuring myself and a number of my VI
friends. The evening was accompanied by a delicious, all you can eat buffet of the finest Caribbean
cuisine.
Britain’s Got Talent!
We started November with a bang: we auditioned
for Britain's Got Talent!
A crew of us from Illuminate Freedom's Blind Street
Dance class, AKA the “Blind Beats” went along to
the big walk-in audition that took place on Sunday
7th November at Excel, London.
Unfortunately we won’t know the outcome until
January 2016 (argh!!), but we’re keeping our fingers
and toes crossed!
Success Stories
• “Another excellent fitness session with Louise! So great to
have a way of making my body even better and fitter!
Thank you very much!
It's so great to have find someone out there who
knows how to explain things!
If you're blind and want to exercise and help feel
better contact Louise! She's very amazing!”
Vanja Sudar
• “The instructions in class are so clear and precise. You
never feel like you’re doing anything wrong.”
Mickel Smithen
About Louise Dickson
Illuminate Freedom was founded by Louise Dickson, a Professional Dancer, Dance
Health and Exercise Specialist, Personal Trainer and sports coach with a B.A.
(Hons) in Dance. Louise has lived with fibromyalgia, chronic pain, chronic fatigue
and arthritis since she was just 18 years old. Self-designed Dance Movement
sessions and a complete change in her diet and lifestyle dramatically improved
her physical and emotional symptoms, and made her able to eventually get off of
all medications. Louise’s mother also suffers from Fibromyalgia and she also began
losing her sight eleven years ago. Since doing dance and fitness activities with her
daughter, she feels that she has been given a “new lease of life”.
Funding and Financial Support
Illuminate Freedom are not currently in receipt of any
funding to provide our much needed services and we are
looking for some support with studio hire for our new
term in January.
If you would like to support us financially, please visit our
Go Fund Me page at: www.gofundme/illuminatefreedom
If you can support our valuable work in any other way,
please feel free to get in touch:
louise@illuminatefreedom.co.uk
Illuminate Freedom:
Brightening life’s journey through the
freedom of movement