Sounds of sax and serendipity

The assistant holding Wang Qi's hand leads him to his seat on the stage.

"Come and sit here," the assistant says.

The blind Wang walks gingerly before eventually reaching his seat.

"Here," the assistant says. "Yes, yes, sit down and relax."

Wang is about to play the saxophone in the last dress rehearsal of 2022 Dreamland Concert: Ever-Shining Flower, to be performed by China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe at Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on March 18.

"We adapted the plot from Wang's life experience after reading many stories from many other members' life experiences," Dou Hui, the director, says.

The troupe had been hard at practice for more than three months.

"I really hope they do well,"Dou says. "This is the first time I have worked with the troupe, and it's awesome. They deserve to succeed."

There are more than 85 million disabled people in China, of whom about 28,000 are enrolled in government-funded schools that provide special education, the China Disabled Persons' Federation says.

Although education for the disabled is a matter of some contention, the consensus among experts is that when they take part in cultural and artistic activities it helps reduce the stigma and discrimination they often tend to face.

However, exactly how to make this a reality is a matter of debate.

"Art education has longstanding ties to disability research and pedagogy," says Dr John Derby of the University of Kansas, who over 10 years has done research about special education for people with disabilities.

Wang's saxophone career can in large part be put down to serendipity. After senior members of the orchestra of the school for the blind in Dalian, Liaoning province, graduated, gaps were left in the ranks that needed to be filled, and a recruitment drive began.

One of those who answered the call was Wang at the age of 15, who then needed to decide which instrument to play. About two years earlier he had lost his sight in a firework accident.

"I recalled the instruments I had seen before I lost my sight, and the saxophone instantly sprang to mind. I consider myself lucky, because when I was young there were few schools that taught music. In many schools for the blind the course that was most commonly on offer was massage."

For his family－he has a younger sister－receiving treatment for his eye condition put considerable stress on the household budget.

"We lived in the suburbs and my music teacher lived downtown and traveling to and from his place once a week for lessons involved hours of bus travel, during which I needed to be accompanied.

"Another problem was that if you want to buy Braille music scores, they're very difficult to find."

That problem is not new, Dou says.

"Visually impaired musicians cannot see musical scores and hearing-impaired dancers cannot hear the music that their partners play. So, it's highly problematic when they want to work together."

The most common way for blind musicians to have access to a score is for assistants to read it out aloud, Wang says. It can then be written down using Braille.

"We don't have conductors, so we need prompts to tell us what we should do," Wang says.

During a performance there are particular players who breathe loudly when they play particular musical sections as a way of signaling others when to start playing, he says.

"Tacit understanding is the key."

Qiang Chuan, who choreographed several performances of the troupe, including Ever-Shining Flower, says:"The dancers, most of whom are deaf, use a little device on their costume that vibrates."

In the rehearsal the director tells the deaf dancers, through sign language translators, how to dance when the device vibrates in particular ways. So in the performance he can electronically send instructions to activate the devices.

The China Disabled Persons' Federation has helped fund the troupe since it was founded in 1987. The federation pays the rental fee for the electronic devices used in performances and for practice and performance space, Dou says.

"Apart from that, Beijing Culture and Arts Fund provided us with additional capital for putting on Ever-Shining Flower."

Wang was also the grateful beneficiary of much help from the public early in his career.

"When I was young there was an old volunteer who belonged to the Dalian Charity Federation who helped me travel from my house to the teacher's every week."

That volunteer was Tong Wei, who has gained renown in Dalian with his activities, chief among them helping more than 200 children faced with various difficulties. In 2012 China Central Television invited him to take part in the program Warm China, an interview show that aims to celebrate people who engage in good deeds.

"Ding Cheng was my mentor and helped me a great deal with my profession," Wang says, referring to one of the most accomplished saxophonists in China, and whose students have won many international accolades.

"The thing about Ding is that when he trained me, he treated me no differently to the other professional students he has taught." Wang's career began to take off after he joined the troupe in 2007.

"When I accepted the invitation to join, it was more in the sense of just giving it a try, although it crossed my mind that it could change my future.

"I met many friends nursing the same ambitions, and we relied on one another to overcome the challenges in everyday life and in routine practice. It was my deaf friends who helped me get from place to place every day.

"When I first arrived to play with the troupe there was a banner that said, 'Welcome to your new warm home', and that really touched me."

He eventually decided to stay and pursue his career there.

"Now I have spent much more time with the troupe than I did at home. Without the help of others, I could not have achieved anything."

The troupe has very little space for practice, Dou says, so there is a lot of scope for improvement.

"I realize property is very expensive in Beijing, but it would be great if the government was able to provide more space."

Qiang raises questions about the high artistic standards demanded of those with physical challenges.

"I've worked with disabled people several times over the past few years and find that the instructors and directors can be quite hard on them. These artists usually need much more practice time than their counterparts.

"These disabled artists need a lot of patience and perseverance to succeed. In what they create they're like a flower growing in cement and blossoming."

Wang says: "To other disabled people my message is that if your dream is similar to mine, I know how difficult it is to succeed, but it's well worth the effort.

"The most important thing is to believe. It is this that will give you strength to overcome the challenges that lie before you.

"I believe that ultimately even a bird with broken wings can soar toward heaven."