Chocolate Meets Multisensory Learning at Barcelona Accessibility Conference

BARCELONA, SPAIN.  On April 19^th, Bridge Multimedia produced “Dark Chocolate: An Evening of Tasty Jazz.” This unique multisensory event was the kickoff for the University of Barcelona’s 2023 international Advanced Research Seminar on Audio Description (ARSAD). It was led by Bridge’s Research Director, Dr. Wendy Sapp,

The musical activity offered guests the opportunity to participate, blindfolded, in a guided chocolate-tasting tour, with their senses being directed to different elements of the experience, including touch, taste, texture, smell and sound. ARSAD’s Lead Organizer, Dr. Anna Matamala said, “The Dark Chocolate event, with its live jazz, was truly magical. Wendy was a fantastic host, guiding us to appreciate all our senses and how they combine to create amazing experiences.” 

According to Dr. Sapp, “Bridge has led a lot of accessible classroom and workplace training presentations using engaging multisensory activities. We thought it would be fun to bring some of these ideas together in a special event for ARSAD’s international audio description luminaries, creators, researchers, and enthusiasts.” The evening’s live music was provided by jazz maestro Ignasi Terraza, a founder of the Barcelona Jazz Orchestra and Head of the international jazz record label, Swit Records.

In 2021, Bridge presented “Catherine Russel Sings Virtually” for ARSAD. It featured international communication specialists who discussed audio description and sign language interpretation of wordplay, scatting, and innuendo within a jazz performance.

Dr. Sapp said, “Like jazz music, the University of Barcelona’s audio description research conference is innovative and exciting – and we can’t wait until ARSAD 2025 for more immersive surprises!”