Disabilities prove no barrier as orchestra is huge success
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — It’s an unusual orchestra, one that has played in London, Madrid, Moscow and Jerusalem. Its next stops are New York, Washington and Chicago.
Tap Tap, created 18 years ago to give students at a renowned school for disabled people in Prague an extracurricular activity, has become a major musical operation that has drawn millions of fans, first at home and gradually abroad.
You can’t tell from its professional, typically rhythmic sound that many of the musicians are in wheelchairs with serious disabilities. And that’s just what its director, Simon Ornest, wants.
Ornest believes that, too often, disabled people aren’t challenged enough. “My goal from the very start was not to do it as a therapy, but as a band with everything that it could involve,” he said. “Those around 18 to 20 years old are confronted in our band for the first time with a situation where we really want something from them. We insist on it.”
Ornest said he had a feeling the concept was viable, but has been astounded at its success.
“I wouldn’t believe it would be possible to develop it as we have done. It’s an elaborate system with hard work behind it, unexpectedly hard work,” he said.
He said the band’s strength is based on its two essential rules.
“We come on time and we do what we promised among ourselves to do. It’s a pretty good basis for any teamwork,” he said.
Tap Tap started with cover versions of their favourite songs. Today, it produces music of its own, with help from local musicians, and lyrics that target the world of the disabled.
“We try to sing about the people with disabilities in a sensitive, but also humorous way,” Ornest said.
Their recent hit, The Bus Director, is about a bus driver who prevents a disabled man from boarding the bus with his bicycle. The song has attracted more than 6.9 million views on YouTube.
“At the beginning, people were more curious about what we are, about what the disabled can perform,” said Jana Augustinova, a Tap Tap singer.
“And then came pity, wonder. Now, we have fans, as any other band. They like our music and they don’t consider us a band of disabled kids, but as a real band.”
The 20-member ensemble plays about 60 concerts a year and has been performing a musical at the National Theatre in Prague.
Next year, the orchestra will perform in Czech prisons together with inmates.
Ladislav Angelovic, the band’s master of ceremonies, said: “We started as an extracurricular activity and it got out of our hands a bit. We are a professional ensemble now.”