Choreographer touched by the blind

JAKARTA: His experience as a backing dancer for Madonna and years of dancing in the U.S. did not prepare Eko Supriyanto for the stark realities in his own country.

Appointed to choreograph Aida Swenson's Children of the World Choir, the 32-year-old dancer was unable to hide his tears when he directed six blind children from Medan, North Sumatra.

"I couldn't help myself, I just saw how amazing these children were, the expressions that came out of their singing, and all this before I ever added any professional touches," he said during a rehearsal.

Eko explained that because the children were blind, their teachers needed to physically move the children's arms and legs to demonstrate the choreographed movements.

"One child just stopped in the middle of everything, grabbed his mentor's legs and asked him to move them so he would understand how to move," he said.

"This is something I would never learn in America." -- JP