Many shows/plays were happening in NYC during the Fall/Winter season this year. Obviously, as I work in one of the theatre companies which was producing one, I get to see a few shows, some of them a few times, like Captive Audience produced by the company I work for, New York Deaf Theatre and Spring Awakening produced by Deaf West, still running on Broadway as I write this blog entry.
Most of the shows were set in small theatres or art houses with an average of 80 seats, which makes the distance between the actors on stage to the farthest seat just about 50 feet away. For the audience of a Deaf theatre (obviously with Deaf actors) performing in ASL, the 50 feet distance is still close enough to see the nuances of the signs and expressions that the language requires. It is a beautiful visual all along to see the whole show, the stage design, the props' details and the amazing (or sometimes awful) performances from the actors in full range of the language including body language. Whether or not I liked the play being performed on each occasion, I could still enjoy the show just to be mesmerize by the beauty of the visual and, of course, the acting without the voice from the Deaf actors.
Now, talking about Spring Awakening's Broadway theatre, Brook Artkinson Theater on 47th st, it is just too big and wide for this kind of production. If you read my previous post about my experience on going to LA just for this show in the Inner City Art Center (another 80-90 seats venue), you can imagine how overwhelmed I was to watch it being spread out on the big stage of a Broadway theatre. Let me make a pause here to say, I LOVED that the show is on Broadway but there are certain things that were good and certain things that are bad about having a Deaf play on a big Broadway theatre..here is why; if you are Deaf and can't afford the ridiculously expensive Broadway ticket and need to sit on the last row, you will pretty much miss every dialogue in ASL, there is no way you can see the facial expressions and sometimes many of the signs, especially finger-spelling, from that far away. Then you can think like many people use in films, get a binocular, no one is ashamed to use it when seats are far away..but then guess what? You can't follow the signing around the stage that bumps from one corner to the other without you even noticing. Anyway, I'm not here to criticize the show, I love it, I saw it 4 times on Broadway alone and I'm still looking forward to see it again before it ends. I'm here to reflect on what it is that we should expect to see when going to a Deaf theatre production, if that production is in a venue with more than 100 seats.
As I mentioned above, I went to see Spring Awakening on Broadway 4 times and I tried a few different seats. In 2 events, I was able to change seats so I really tried 6 different seat locations. Cheap and far is not a great seat for a Deaf person as I said, but it is not the worst for a hearing person. You can see pretty much the visual, follow with all the screen projections and enjoy the dancing/choreography in a whole, but if you are looking to catch the ASL, this is not the right seat.
Once I won the lottery and got the balcony seat. I also bought a seat on the 3rd row, but was so much on the side that I couldn't see half the stage..meaning, if you are on the side or balcony, be prepare to see half the show. Best seat to enjoy the whole show and still enjoy and understand the ASL (or sim-com) is, without a doubt, mid to far orchestra, best of the best, is front mezzanine.
But, what brought me to write this blog which is about my "journey" into knowing and appreciating the Deaf culture and language as I continue my learning, and therefore to me, the BEST of the BEST seat in each and every Deaf theatre production is the front row. In small theatre venues like the usual Deaf theatre productions, we may still need to work a little our heads to follow the action, but not really much. All is right there in a small stage for us to enjoy. But on Broadway theatre venue, it is a lot of turning heads and tilting up and down. However regardless of the "head work" in my opinion, the fact that I get to see the full extend of the language and the art of performing by the Deaf actors is just soooooooo fantastic. All the details of the signs, the facial expression, the full body language required by each character portrayed by the actors is what made me such a fan of Deaf performances. The true performing art doesn't depend on the voice intonation, to perform without it and still convey the feeling, the image, the emotions, all in there with the body, by how they move or walk, how they show in their faces, and just use gesture and hand shapes moving accordingly with the situation is just so magical, so beautiful, so...no word can describe it. I felt like I was watching DaVinci painting the Monalisa. Pure art!! I was even happier to see 2 of the artists whose signing performances made me realize how beautiful ASL and Deaf performing are, Marlee Matlin and Daniel Durant on Spring Awakening had me crying almost the whole play. Not that the characters were tragic or sad, well Mr. Durant's character is a little, but after seeing it 4 times previously, I was used to the story and it doesn't make me feel anything anymore, I was crying for seeing how beautiful the performance was, how much they can do with their art, their body, their language. And not just them, Sandra Mae (for sure made me cry a lot too), Joshua Castille, Russell Havard, Miles Barbee and Amelia Hansey all had their chance to prove their art too.
Basically, if you are reading this and want to see a Deaf theatre production, make sure to find out the best seat for what you really want to see (whole visual, ASL and visual, half the show...), but if you just want to enjoy the acting like me, my suggestion still is..FRONT ROW!
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Deaf Coffee has a different taste
Oh my gosh..talking about learning ASL, it looks like every ASL students decided to hang out at the same place. From about 30-50 people seating at the food court area of the shopping mall, maybe 5 were really Deaf and another 5 maybe HOH, I know most people would say they are the same and belong to the same community, yes, I got this part, but the HOH people hanging at the mall all could talk, so there were no real reason to force us (learners) to use sign, so I will consider 5 Deaf to 40 people just o round the numbers her.
It was so many people, so many different conversations and so many different levels of ASL knowledge that was incredibly difficult to follow any of them. Again, I could give credit to practice perception of the signs and get use to see the signs being done fast as regular Deaf people would use.
Other than visual "training" that event is not made for the beginner, lost on ASL and no friend to talk to, but I need to give a HUGE credit to the Deaf people there who were the most amazing people and SOOOOO willing to help the students, teaching them and so patients to understand the ones who didn't sign much, like me. I was actually surprised that it is called Deaf Coffee when there are bearelly no Deaf people there in comparison with the amount of hearing people. I was always thinking it would be a bunch of Deaf people hanging out chatting and a few hearing ones, friendly talking and having "coffee", but instead I saw the opposite, which is why I came out with that great impression about the ones that were there. They weren't there to hang out with their Deaf friends ans socialize with other Deaf, they were there knowing that they would be meeting a lot of hearing students and teaching them, freely teaching them.
Funny thing, even though I am from another community and speak another language, I never heard of any kind of social event or hang out place where people would go to practice talking another language. Most people who are learning another language they just go to another country to practice. ASL, they don't have another country to go practice, but there are many schools where people can take a course and be immerse into the language, but instead, they just find places to gather some people who "talk" the language to practice with them. That is something incredible, it seems that the Deaf community is much more organized, willing and able to provide training and practice to those willing to learn ASL than any other community or language. KUDOS, for the organizers and the Deaf people who goes there and help, teach, practice and donate their time.
It was so many people, so many different conversations and so many different levels of ASL knowledge that was incredibly difficult to follow any of them. Again, I could give credit to practice perception of the signs and get use to see the signs being done fast as regular Deaf people would use.
Other than visual "training" that event is not made for the beginner, lost on ASL and no friend to talk to, but I need to give a HUGE credit to the Deaf people there who were the most amazing people and SOOOOO willing to help the students, teaching them and so patients to understand the ones who didn't sign much, like me. I was actually surprised that it is called Deaf Coffee when there are bearelly no Deaf people there in comparison with the amount of hearing people. I was always thinking it would be a bunch of Deaf people hanging out chatting and a few hearing ones, friendly talking and having "coffee", but instead I saw the opposite, which is why I came out with that great impression about the ones that were there. They weren't there to hang out with their Deaf friends ans socialize with other Deaf, they were there knowing that they would be meeting a lot of hearing students and teaching them, freely teaching them.
Funny thing, even though I am from another community and speak another language, I never heard of any kind of social event or hang out place where people would go to practice talking another language. Most people who are learning another language they just go to another country to practice. ASL, they don't have another country to go practice, but there are many schools where people can take a course and be immerse into the language, but instead, they just find places to gather some people who "talk" the language to practice with them. That is something incredible, it seems that the Deaf community is much more organized, willing and able to provide training and practice to those willing to learn ASL than any other community or language. KUDOS, for the organizers and the Deaf people who goes there and help, teach, practice and donate their time.
Do you want to play Dingo?
When I first heard about Dingo it sounded like a very boring and old people thing. Well, I won't say it is not old people thing, I found out later that mostly older than me people are the ones that go play it, but it is actually quite fun. Most important, there almost no hearing people there.
This time I went late and as people were already sat down I was put into a group of all Deaf with only 1 person from a group next time mine that was HOH and could talk and she helped me interpreting a little when people from my group signed something and I couldn't understand. My first game and I made it to the 1st person to be on the finals. Although I didn't win any game, it was pretty exciting to see all those people in my group rooting for me. The most amazing feeling was that even though I had very little ASL knowledge and could barely communicate with them, I was one of the few hearing there, I could feel that all those Deaf people in my group were excited that me (an stranger, out of their community, out of their world and language) After one of the first experience where I was "shut down" from the group site where ONLY Deaf people can be in and/or are welcomed, there I was not just welcomed but also an equal and someone thy would be proud of just for running for the winning place.
The thing with Dingo is mostly, we don't really talk a lot with each other, or maybe because I was new and not good at signing, but during the game the focus is on the cards and not on each other's hands. Other than that, it was a great experience to practice seeing signing from the "host" while announcing things about the game and other events they were planning.
One thing I definitely learned was that, this community IS diversified and HUGE. At least just a few of them (in comparison with the amount of Deaf people around the country) are the ones against hearing people. Granted, they are not all arms wide opened, but most respect us hearings as people just like them and if we do the same, the mutual respect goes far as a great conversation, into something that can be even more.
This time I went late and as people were already sat down I was put into a group of all Deaf with only 1 person from a group next time mine that was HOH and could talk and she helped me interpreting a little when people from my group signed something and I couldn't understand. My first game and I made it to the 1st person to be on the finals. Although I didn't win any game, it was pretty exciting to see all those people in my group rooting for me. The most amazing feeling was that even though I had very little ASL knowledge and could barely communicate with them, I was one of the few hearing there, I could feel that all those Deaf people in my group were excited that me (an stranger, out of their community, out of their world and language) After one of the first experience where I was "shut down" from the group site where ONLY Deaf people can be in and/or are welcomed, there I was not just welcomed but also an equal and someone thy would be proud of just for running for the winning place.
The thing with Dingo is mostly, we don't really talk a lot with each other, or maybe because I was new and not good at signing, but during the game the focus is on the cards and not on each other's hands. Other than that, it was a great experience to practice seeing signing from the "host" while announcing things about the game and other events they were planning.
One thing I definitely learned was that, this community IS diversified and HUGE. At least just a few of them (in comparison with the amount of Deaf people around the country) are the ones against hearing people. Granted, they are not all arms wide opened, but most respect us hearings as people just like them and if we do the same, the mutual respect goes far as a great conversation, into something that can be even more.
A weekend of Deaf Expos (DeafNation NY & Deaf Fest NJ)
Call me crazy if you would like, but I did that, left at 7am from Newark,NJ airport to go to Rocherter NY on September 21, 2013 to attend the Deaf Nation Expo in RIT/NID. One of the best and worst place I went to. Well, it was great to see such an organized event and so full of cool entertainment, but worst for the part that, for a beginner, the dimension of the event and sudden knowledge of how huge the world is and the Deaf world is made me really scared and I felt like giving up.
Remembering that I started to learn and getting involved with ASL and Deaf culture on August 2013, so 1 month after being alone in an event of that dimension it was really overwhelming for me. One of the few Deaf personality I knew about was Joel Barrish, one of the founders of DeafNation, and leaving my fears away and the embarrassment of not knowing ASL, I was able to express myself to him and even took a picture. There, my trip was satisfying for that. I was understood by a Deaf person. That opened my shyness a little bit when on my way out I was also able to communicate with one of the vendors and bought 2 DVDs of movies made in ASL only. Yes, I saw both with subtitles, no way I could understand the dialogues with out it at that time.
So after the whole day walking around the expo and seeing only sign language, on my way back to NJ I met one of the sales associate from Purple ( a company that provide services such as VRS among other things). Now I felt more comfortable, it was one on one communication and we both had to wait for the plane anyway, so..there I was trying to talk to the guy and practice my ASL once again. I now feel bad for him, poor guy had a huge patience with me, I was really bad on ASL..come on, 1 month beginner. Turn out that the same person was going to NJ as well for the Deaf Fest event happening on the following day.
Well, on Sunday September 22, I was really tired from the 1 day in NY trip, but there I was in the NJ Deaf Fest. In comparison with the DeafNation Expo I was just in a day before, this event was very small, but huge for the NJ area. The entertainment was great and the technology for the non-ASL knowledgeable people was amazing with interpreter and a screen with the transcript of what was being said on stage, something that DeafNation Expo does not have. The amazing Douglas Ridloff was on stage when I got there, and it was a real treat to see him performing and understanding everything from the screen transcript. There were, however, fewer vendors and the food was only carts as street food, meaning, no option of purchasing with credit cards even though it was so expensive. But into the reason why I'm writing this, seen and meeting a few Deaf people around was really interesting again, but the very best was to pass by the NY Deaf Theatre booth that was there promoting their next production. One poor guy alone was giving out some flyers made of black and white copies and the note pad where we could sign up to receive emails updates. My life was done there. I got to find out that my past passion just met my new passion (theatre meets ASL) and even though I was mostly lost on the whole signing my hope was restored and my eager to keep learning moved me to the next stage.
Remembering that I started to learn and getting involved with ASL and Deaf culture on August 2013, so 1 month after being alone in an event of that dimension it was really overwhelming for me. One of the few Deaf personality I knew about was Joel Barrish, one of the founders of DeafNation, and leaving my fears away and the embarrassment of not knowing ASL, I was able to express myself to him and even took a picture. There, my trip was satisfying for that. I was understood by a Deaf person. That opened my shyness a little bit when on my way out I was also able to communicate with one of the vendors and bought 2 DVDs of movies made in ASL only. Yes, I saw both with subtitles, no way I could understand the dialogues with out it at that time.
So after the whole day walking around the expo and seeing only sign language, on my way back to NJ I met one of the sales associate from Purple ( a company that provide services such as VRS among other things). Now I felt more comfortable, it was one on one communication and we both had to wait for the plane anyway, so..there I was trying to talk to the guy and practice my ASL once again. I now feel bad for him, poor guy had a huge patience with me, I was really bad on ASL..come on, 1 month beginner. Turn out that the same person was going to NJ as well for the Deaf Fest event happening on the following day.
Well, on Sunday September 22, I was really tired from the 1 day in NY trip, but there I was in the NJ Deaf Fest. In comparison with the DeafNation Expo I was just in a day before, this event was very small, but huge for the NJ area. The entertainment was great and the technology for the non-ASL knowledgeable people was amazing with interpreter and a screen with the transcript of what was being said on stage, something that DeafNation Expo does not have. The amazing Douglas Ridloff was on stage when I got there, and it was a real treat to see him performing and understanding everything from the screen transcript. There were, however, fewer vendors and the food was only carts as street food, meaning, no option of purchasing with credit cards even though it was so expensive. But into the reason why I'm writing this, seen and meeting a few Deaf people around was really interesting again, but the very best was to pass by the NY Deaf Theatre booth that was there promoting their next production. One poor guy alone was giving out some flyers made of black and white copies and the note pad where we could sign up to receive emails updates. My life was done there. I got to find out that my past passion just met my new passion (theatre meets ASL) and even though I was mostly lost on the whole signing my hope was restored and my eager to keep learning moved me to the next stage.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Deaf West - Spring Awakening
What can I say? LA is always amazing me. This trip was not an exception in any way, to be more precise, I may have to say it was one of, if not THE best, trip ever.
I found myself in a very tight schedule and could ONLY go see the acclaimed play "Spring Awakening" on Sunday, Nov 2nd. On my first tentative schedule, I was ready to book my trip and I found out that the only performance was sold out. I tried even on Nov 1st, but also sold out. After a few tweets back on forth with the Deaf Awakening social media manager, I got an email 1 week later saying that there was a new show time added to the schedule , which was also Nov 2nd at night. The email was sent at 1am (eastern time) and by 11am the show was sold out again. There were some other days, but that was the only day available on my schedule to plan a trip to LA and see the show.
Luckily, when I saw the email I immediately opened the scheduled day, but since I was sleeping I didn't want to proceed with the whole purchase in view that, 1; I was in bed and in no way willing to get up to look for a credit card, 2; as awakened in the middle of the night my eyes could barely open and to read the phone screen was painful. However, even though I didn't proceed with it, somehow the site held a ticket as if the purchase was still in process. After I saw the show was sold out in about 10 hours, some light bulb light up in my head and I decided to try continuing the purchase on the phone from during the night, guess what, it worked..I got my ticket to the night show. Now it was time to get the trip planned to LA and enjoy the show. Again, as the schedule was tight, I decided to plan a very short trip which ended up to be a 1.5 days.
I arrived in LA on November 2 at 11 am (going back to NY on November 3rd at 10:40pm) but in that little time I got to see an amazing show, met 2 of my very favorite Deaf actors (one of the the reason I fell in love with ASL) plus the famous Deaf director and founder of DWIF, one of the lead actress of my fave show, one of the writers of my fave show, with whom I had a great time at lunch talking about all we never talked before and I got to get the picture I wanted and I wasn't able to on my last trip. So, to summarize, it was REALLY worth it and a very well spent time I had.
The Deaf West amazing show, "Spring Awakening" is every bit of greatness everyone and every media are saying. Flawless performance from every actor and actress, engaging, vibrant, passionate and very active. The only thing that bothered me a little was the amount of "explicit" sexual content, but that is just my taste, many may feel there is not enough of it. Even with that, it is an exceptional show and SOOOOO worth the flight if it was just that. The Deaf actors and voice actors are amazing, the choreography is stunning, music is phenomenal. Seeing the Deaf actors dance and signing at the same time in the rhythm of the music they are not hearing is the most beautiful thing and what drives me so much into the beauty of the ASL and Deaf culture. No wonder it has been sold out all the shows for a while now. It is definitely a must see.
Before the show started, while still on the line to get in, Vanessa Marano showed up with her friend Megan. I found out later that she had reserved seats, but while in line right behind me, I could not recognize her at all. She is so tiny, that what we see on TV seems to be pure visual effects, or the camera does put on 10lbs on people. I knew she was short since I saw one scene of her and Sean Berdy where she was with no heels and poor girl had to hug him and to do that she was basically standing on the tip of her toes. Talking about Sean, he was there too, but not to see the show, he saw the afternoon show and stayed after just visiting his fellow actors, but lucky for me, since he was showing up around the lobby area, I got to ask him for a picture. Pause here to say, Sean (as I mentioned on one of my posts before) is one of the main reason why I fell in love with sign language. His signing is so beautiful and his acting is the most amazing of the Deaf actors in the show (Switched at Birth) so seeing him was kind of a complete shock (in a good way) I was mesmerizing at his signing when talking with some of his friends that were on the line as well, but I was sooooooo disappointed when I asked him (in sign language and voice of course)to take a picture he was the most cutest and gentlest to say "Sure" with his voice but NO signing. OK, so I took the picture and I signed "thank you", and he answered back "no problem, bye" again, NO signing. Yes I love seeing Deaf people talking,, specially the ones that we don't get to see often because on screen Emmett barely talked 5 times in the entire 3 seasons (72 episodes so far), but honestly, my "love" for his signing is way too big to put his mouth before his hands..I WANTED TO SEE HIM SIGNING!!! Daniel Durant, on the other hand did not say a word with his voice, he is the sweetest guy I've ever met and took his time talking to me in sign language. I basically spent the whole time after the show talking to Daniel who gave me too much attention I'm not use to from a celebrity like him, especially. Simply amazing! As I always tell people, put a show where there are only Sean Berdy and Daniel Durant on it, I can watch it 24/7/365 days on the roll. Love them as actors either acting separated or together in a scene.
On the line I also had the great pleasure to meet Jules Dameron, the great Deaf director of many ASL videos. Jules talked and signed, and oh boy, what a patience she had with my millions ASL mistakes, but that was not a problem to her. As per her view, and (again, this writing is not just for my memory of the moments but my observation of the Deaf culture and behaviors) many other Deaf people I've met, they are happy we, hearing, are learning and they are happy to help teaching us. I learned the sign for "fired" from Jules and "shy" from Daniel. And once more, they are huggers. After 15 years living in this country, I learned that when you first meet someone you can shake hands, Brazilian culture you can kiss someone (on the cheek) twice (at least for girls), and apparently in the Deaf culture, you hug. Maybe that can explain why Sean Berdy is always hugging people when taking a picture (yes I noticed that). I grew up with the "Ricky Martin" way (he has been my idol for many years now) and he mix and match depending on the person, some pictures he is just close to the person, some he is shaking hands, some he is hugging, some he is kissing, but Sean, it doesn't matter who, as far as I could see, he is ALWAYS hugging. Anyway, back to Jules, she is amazing and also took a good time talking to me, explaining about deaf people and of course just chatting.
After the show, the cast had almost the entire audience waiting for them outside and we were basically being pushed out of the place when they were turning off all the lights. While there, the SAB reunion of Daniel and Anthony (who was also in the play) with Vanessa and her interpreter friend, Ashley took the center hall and took so many pictures with the cast of Spring Awakening, together and everyone related to any artistic media. That was when Daniel took the time to call attention to tell them about me. It was nice their reaction, but remember, I'm shy :-) Anyway, on the wave, I got to take a picture with Vanessa Marano, but the funny part was that, the whole time I was talking to her using signs as well. That until in the middle of a sentence I realized that I was signing to a hearing person and started to apologize, after all she was answering me because of what I said with my voice and not with my hands. That was embarrassing, but it seems like she was kind of use to it that she didn't even care.
The following day I had lunch with Michael Ross, ex-writer for Switched at Birth who told me all different things about his experience working with Daniel Durant, Anthony Natale and Sean Berdy, including that on set they are or act completely different from what I had experienced. Sean signs all the time and hardly uses his voice while Daniel is a talker and only sign with other Deaf people.
I just need to end this with one thing, amazing trip, amazing show, amazing people!!
I found myself in a very tight schedule and could ONLY go see the acclaimed play "Spring Awakening" on Sunday, Nov 2nd. On my first tentative schedule, I was ready to book my trip and I found out that the only performance was sold out. I tried even on Nov 1st, but also sold out. After a few tweets back on forth with the Deaf Awakening social media manager, I got an email 1 week later saying that there was a new show time added to the schedule , which was also Nov 2nd at night. The email was sent at 1am (eastern time) and by 11am the show was sold out again. There were some other days, but that was the only day available on my schedule to plan a trip to LA and see the show.
Luckily, when I saw the email I immediately opened the scheduled day, but since I was sleeping I didn't want to proceed with the whole purchase in view that, 1; I was in bed and in no way willing to get up to look for a credit card, 2; as awakened in the middle of the night my eyes could barely open and to read the phone screen was painful. However, even though I didn't proceed with it, somehow the site held a ticket as if the purchase was still in process. After I saw the show was sold out in about 10 hours, some light bulb light up in my head and I decided to try continuing the purchase on the phone from during the night, guess what, it worked..I got my ticket to the night show. Now it was time to get the trip planned to LA and enjoy the show. Again, as the schedule was tight, I decided to plan a very short trip which ended up to be a 1.5 days.
I arrived in LA on November 2 at 11 am (going back to NY on November 3rd at 10:40pm) but in that little time I got to see an amazing show, met 2 of my very favorite Deaf actors (one of the the reason I fell in love with ASL) plus the famous Deaf director and founder of DWIF, one of the lead actress of my fave show, one of the writers of my fave show, with whom I had a great time at lunch talking about all we never talked before and I got to get the picture I wanted and I wasn't able to on my last trip. So, to summarize, it was REALLY worth it and a very well spent time I had.
The Deaf West amazing show, "Spring Awakening" is every bit of greatness everyone and every media are saying. Flawless performance from every actor and actress, engaging, vibrant, passionate and very active. The only thing that bothered me a little was the amount of "explicit" sexual content, but that is just my taste, many may feel there is not enough of it. Even with that, it is an exceptional show and SOOOOO worth the flight if it was just that. The Deaf actors and voice actors are amazing, the choreography is stunning, music is phenomenal. Seeing the Deaf actors dance and signing at the same time in the rhythm of the music they are not hearing is the most beautiful thing and what drives me so much into the beauty of the ASL and Deaf culture. No wonder it has been sold out all the shows for a while now. It is definitely a must see.
Before the show started, while still on the line to get in, Vanessa Marano showed up with her friend Megan. I found out later that she had reserved seats, but while in line right behind me, I could not recognize her at all. She is so tiny, that what we see on TV seems to be pure visual effects, or the camera does put on 10lbs on people. I knew she was short since I saw one scene of her and Sean Berdy where she was with no heels and poor girl had to hug him and to do that she was basically standing on the tip of her toes. Talking about Sean, he was there too, but not to see the show, he saw the afternoon show and stayed after just visiting his fellow actors, but lucky for me, since he was showing up around the lobby area, I got to ask him for a picture. Pause here to say, Sean (as I mentioned on one of my posts before) is one of the main reason why I fell in love with sign language. His signing is so beautiful and his acting is the most amazing of the Deaf actors in the show (Switched at Birth) so seeing him was kind of a complete shock (in a good way) I was mesmerizing at his signing when talking with some of his friends that were on the line as well, but I was sooooooo disappointed when I asked him (in sign language and voice of course)to take a picture he was the most cutest and gentlest to say "Sure" with his voice but NO signing. OK, so I took the picture and I signed "thank you", and he answered back "no problem, bye" again, NO signing. Yes I love seeing Deaf people talking,, specially the ones that we don't get to see often because on screen Emmett barely talked 5 times in the entire 3 seasons (72 episodes so far), but honestly, my "love" for his signing is way too big to put his mouth before his hands..I WANTED TO SEE HIM SIGNING!!! Daniel Durant, on the other hand did not say a word with his voice, he is the sweetest guy I've ever met and took his time talking to me in sign language. I basically spent the whole time after the show talking to Daniel who gave me too much attention I'm not use to from a celebrity like him, especially. Simply amazing! As I always tell people, put a show where there are only Sean Berdy and Daniel Durant on it, I can watch it 24/7/365 days on the roll. Love them as actors either acting separated or together in a scene.
On the line I also had the great pleasure to meet Jules Dameron, the great Deaf director of many ASL videos. Jules talked and signed, and oh boy, what a patience she had with my millions ASL mistakes, but that was not a problem to her. As per her view, and (again, this writing is not just for my memory of the moments but my observation of the Deaf culture and behaviors) many other Deaf people I've met, they are happy we, hearing, are learning and they are happy to help teaching us. I learned the sign for "fired" from Jules and "shy" from Daniel. And once more, they are huggers. After 15 years living in this country, I learned that when you first meet someone you can shake hands, Brazilian culture you can kiss someone (on the cheek) twice (at least for girls), and apparently in the Deaf culture, you hug. Maybe that can explain why Sean Berdy is always hugging people when taking a picture (yes I noticed that). I grew up with the "Ricky Martin" way (he has been my idol for many years now) and he mix and match depending on the person, some pictures he is just close to the person, some he is shaking hands, some he is hugging, some he is kissing, but Sean, it doesn't matter who, as far as I could see, he is ALWAYS hugging. Anyway, back to Jules, she is amazing and also took a good time talking to me, explaining about deaf people and of course just chatting.
After the show, the cast had almost the entire audience waiting for them outside and we were basically being pushed out of the place when they were turning off all the lights. While there, the SAB reunion of Daniel and Anthony (who was also in the play) with Vanessa and her interpreter friend, Ashley took the center hall and took so many pictures with the cast of Spring Awakening, together and everyone related to any artistic media. That was when Daniel took the time to call attention to tell them about me. It was nice their reaction, but remember, I'm shy :-) Anyway, on the wave, I got to take a picture with Vanessa Marano, but the funny part was that, the whole time I was talking to her using signs as well. That until in the middle of a sentence I realized that I was signing to a hearing person and started to apologize, after all she was answering me because of what I said with my voice and not with my hands. That was embarrassing, but it seems like she was kind of use to it that she didn't even care.
The following day I had lunch with Michael Ross, ex-writer for Switched at Birth who told me all different things about his experience working with Daniel Durant, Anthony Natale and Sean Berdy, including that on set they are or act completely different from what I had experienced. Sean signs all the time and hardly uses his voice while Daniel is a talker and only sign with other Deaf people.
I just need to end this with one thing, amazing trip, amazing show, amazing people!!
Friday, October 17, 2014
Living the University Life at Gallaudet
I got to say that it was not a great experience to try to contact the visitor center and schedule a guided tour. I had tried using the online form and even email but I had no answer or confirmation, but since I found out about the open house for Graduate student and they had a tour schedule during the day I decided to go anyway and try to join in with the graduate tour. That, however was not needed, I was able to arrive early enough to join the regular visitor tour as a walk in when I arrived at the visitor center.
After a 30 min tour of a very few buildings I started to ask around for more info and did my own tour.
Every body on the information center or any department I went in to ask questions was super friendly even though my signing is still at a slow pace and many mistakes.
Starting from the security booth, to the Safety Dept Staff who gave me a free parking permit for being the first time visiting I started to get the feeling that the university spirit is really filed with good vibes.
At the food court, the so very patient server was so nice to wait for me and explain every thing about the food that was served, I ordered a (some king of) stuffed potato that was supposed to be served in two but I only asked for one and the cashier was confused on how to charge me..well, she made a way and all was fine.
The gift shop lady, also gave me a smiley face while our signed conversation was really brief but I was able to ask for a bag to carry the souvenirs around.
I stopped by the information desk twice, 1st to ask where the polics or governmental studies building was, however since I didn't know for sure the name of the program, the attendant, who seemed to be also an student took his time to ask questions and made sure that I understood his signing by also fingerspelling when he thought I didn't get what he was saying. All was well and I ended up checking out the building and the Library which was right in front of it. Big library, very intersting building and again with some cute artifacts from when the University first opened.
The second time I went to the information desk was to ask about the film program, which they told me there was none. Strange because I have seen twitter and facebook pages for the film department and I heard of some people who went to the art program specializing in film. Anyway, maybe it doesn't exist anymore or the person who I talked to at the information center doesn't know about it, but he did know about the theater department and showed me how to get there. The theater was closed of course, it is not a show time, but the person on the administration office was hearing and luckily I was able to talk to her with no mistakes saying that I was visiting the campus, she found a student who took 5 minutes to show me the theater..woohoo for me, I saw the theater history wall and going through back stage I also saw the construction room, lighting equip, brak area, wardrobe and ..let's just say..I was feeling at home.
The Visitor Center and the Museum was pure history about the university, the grand event of DPN and the evolution of technology that helps Deaf people to communicate with the haring world. Being a great admired of art and history, I just felt I was seeing the best of the university on those 3 building.
Moving to the rest of the university, it is amazing new building has most rooms and common spaces separated by glasses so people can communicate across the hall easily. The media room is extremely neat with so many computers and from what the tour guide mentioned, that is a private area where students can make a video of themselves signing, in case they have an assignment and they do not want to type in the computer, they can just sign on.
Also, many of the classrooms are equipped with computers and big screen tvs..the one we went in had at least 30 Mac machines and 2 70+ big screen tvs..I'm not even thinking how much that room alone cost on equipment.
One interesting fact the tour guide mentioned, every faculty needs to be fluent in ASL, when they apply for a position, they undergo a test with the ASL committee and if they find him/her not proficient enough they can still be hired and a interpreter would be provided to teach classes, but the new hired faculty member would have to become proficient withing 2 years, and contractually if he/she is not they would be let go. But honestly, living and breathing ASL in that place, one could be proficient in 6 months, I bet!!
Many building are historic and they are beautiful architectures but that is not the point of this journey, the point is, in Gallaudet, there is no communication barrier that would stop anybody there. Even not knowing ASL, or signing at all, they have the technology to overcome the barrier to understand each other, and the places where the technology is not available, they have staff and even the regular students who are much patient and understanding to take their time to make sure people understand them and vice versa. It may not be a true reality in the Deaf community outside the University ground, but in there I felt like an insider and would love to go back and maybe take a course and live that spirit more in deep. Go Bison!!
After a 30 min tour of a very few buildings I started to ask around for more info and did my own tour.
Every body on the information center or any department I went in to ask questions was super friendly even though my signing is still at a slow pace and many mistakes.
Starting from the security booth, to the Safety Dept Staff who gave me a free parking permit for being the first time visiting I started to get the feeling that the university spirit is really filed with good vibes.
At the food court, the so very patient server was so nice to wait for me and explain every thing about the food that was served, I ordered a (some king of) stuffed potato that was supposed to be served in two but I only asked for one and the cashier was confused on how to charge me..well, she made a way and all was fine.
The gift shop lady, also gave me a smiley face while our signed conversation was really brief but I was able to ask for a bag to carry the souvenirs around.
I stopped by the information desk twice, 1st to ask where the polics or governmental studies building was, however since I didn't know for sure the name of the program, the attendant, who seemed to be also an student took his time to ask questions and made sure that I understood his signing by also fingerspelling when he thought I didn't get what he was saying. All was well and I ended up checking out the building and the Library which was right in front of it. Big library, very intersting building and again with some cute artifacts from when the University first opened.
The second time I went to the information desk was to ask about the film program, which they told me there was none. Strange because I have seen twitter and facebook pages for the film department and I heard of some people who went to the art program specializing in film. Anyway, maybe it doesn't exist anymore or the person who I talked to at the information center doesn't know about it, but he did know about the theater department and showed me how to get there. The theater was closed of course, it is not a show time, but the person on the administration office was hearing and luckily I was able to talk to her with no mistakes saying that I was visiting the campus, she found a student who took 5 minutes to show me the theater..woohoo for me, I saw the theater history wall and going through back stage I also saw the construction room, lighting equip, brak area, wardrobe and ..let's just say..I was feeling at home.
The Visitor Center and the Museum was pure history about the university, the grand event of DPN and the evolution of technology that helps Deaf people to communicate with the haring world. Being a great admired of art and history, I just felt I was seeing the best of the university on those 3 building.
Moving to the rest of the university, it is amazing new building has most rooms and common spaces separated by glasses so people can communicate across the hall easily. The media room is extremely neat with so many computers and from what the tour guide mentioned, that is a private area where students can make a video of themselves signing, in case they have an assignment and they do not want to type in the computer, they can just sign on.
Also, many of the classrooms are equipped with computers and big screen tvs..the one we went in had at least 30 Mac machines and 2 70+ big screen tvs..I'm not even thinking how much that room alone cost on equipment.
One interesting fact the tour guide mentioned, every faculty needs to be fluent in ASL, when they apply for a position, they undergo a test with the ASL committee and if they find him/her not proficient enough they can still be hired and a interpreter would be provided to teach classes, but the new hired faculty member would have to become proficient withing 2 years, and contractually if he/she is not they would be let go. But honestly, living and breathing ASL in that place, one could be proficient in 6 months, I bet!!
Many building are historic and they are beautiful architectures but that is not the point of this journey, the point is, in Gallaudet, there is no communication barrier that would stop anybody there. Even not knowing ASL, or signing at all, they have the technology to overcome the barrier to understand each other, and the places where the technology is not available, they have staff and even the regular students who are much patient and understanding to take their time to make sure people understand them and vice versa. It may not be a true reality in the Deaf community outside the University ground, but in there I felt like an insider and would love to go back and maybe take a course and live that spirit more in deep. Go Bison!!
Friday, August 15, 2014
The 1st ASL Slam NYC Adventure
Loving so much the Deaf acting, I was so thrilled to find out about the ASL Slam nights in NY that showcase many different types of Deaf artists. Since the beginning of my "journey" I have been trying to make time to go see the performances they have every month, but first it was on friday's, which was almost impossible to leave early from work to be there on time, not to mention that even if I could, on a friday my head was already so out there that I could barely remember my name, let alone that I should be going to the city. Anyway, not the best excuse, but oh well..I really have been postponing this adventure until last week when I found out that the day has changed to saturday and the guest artist would be, the so nice, Braam Jordaan. Great cgi artist and movie maker. Some few familiar faces from my first time working on the NY Deaf Theater play were there briefly and, of course, the famous Douglas Ridloff with his family.
Unfortunately, I was too late for the happy hour and I was not able to do some major mingling, but I caught the whole presentation. Since I was alone in the city (my friend had an emergency and couldn't go) and I do not like alcoholic drinks, there was no point for me to stay at the bar after the presentation so I left right after it and again, could not mingle too much. As I felt the same way when I was on the fund raising of KODA West in CA, everyone seems to know each other and they talk among themselves, I'm still an outsider and I'm still unsecured about my ASL ability and proficiency. But next time I'll make sure I will be early enough.
I got to say that I loved the environment, even feeling an outsider, but there were some lack of "reasonable accommodation" (Haha, loved this quote from one of Braam's tweets) that made me a little frustrated with this experience. Seating in the middle of the audience, it was extremely hard to see the host and the guest speaker signing, even though the stage is a bit high. Suggestion, a tall bar stool on stage to make the guest and the host sit on a higher range so we could see from the back?? Also, as a hearing person, even though I could not see the signing on stage I could have had the info from the interpreters, BUT, and a big but here, the interpreters were not saying everything being signed, many times it was a long pause and lack of speech from them, and not to mention that even with the microphone, one of them spoke so low that I couldn't hear a word he was saying. Summarizing the experience, I didn't get all the information being given by Braam on that day, and the little bit I got was when I moved around a little and the people in front of me moved too and I could see him signing. That's when, again I totally agree with the quote: Access is having the information in the original language. And I know all about that. Being from Brazil, I always hated when I watched an american movie there that was dubbed to Portuguese, the expressions, the intonations of the words and even meanings changed so much that it seems like I was watching a movie and hearing another one. Interpreters just distract the focus from the signed message. I will remember next time to bring some ear-plugs, maybe it will help on that part.
One thing I did noticed again, and I'm hoping it is really a cultural and real value from the Deaf people. They always seem to like the fact that someone is learning sign language. MANY times I have this compliment from a Deaf person, they are proud of me for learning and being interested in their culture. To be honest, I don't understand why it is such a big deal for them, the crazy would be the people who does NOT want to learn, they are the one missing such a great thing, such a rich culture and most beautiful way to express words. The way I feel is, the Deaf people have a goldmine and they are superior than me, and I'm the one who needs their help or approval to reach the "gold" also, when and if I get there, then I can see people feeling proud of me for my accomplishment, but on the "journey" there, a simple "thank you" or "keep up" is enough of a compliment for those who are "not there yet". Anyway, thanks for the compliment!! It may take me some time to get use to receive it, but I'll get there :-)
Once more, it was a great pleasure meeting Braam Jordaan, although it was really fast, the whole experience was rewarding. Wish to have another opportunity to meet Braam again and talk more about his amazing work! I just need to polish even more on the SASL :-)
Unfortunately, I was too late for the happy hour and I was not able to do some major mingling, but I caught the whole presentation. Since I was alone in the city (my friend had an emergency and couldn't go) and I do not like alcoholic drinks, there was no point for me to stay at the bar after the presentation so I left right after it and again, could not mingle too much. As I felt the same way when I was on the fund raising of KODA West in CA, everyone seems to know each other and they talk among themselves, I'm still an outsider and I'm still unsecured about my ASL ability and proficiency. But next time I'll make sure I will be early enough.
I got to say that I loved the environment, even feeling an outsider, but there were some lack of "reasonable accommodation" (Haha, loved this quote from one of Braam's tweets) that made me a little frustrated with this experience. Seating in the middle of the audience, it was extremely hard to see the host and the guest speaker signing, even though the stage is a bit high. Suggestion, a tall bar stool on stage to make the guest and the host sit on a higher range so we could see from the back?? Also, as a hearing person, even though I could not see the signing on stage I could have had the info from the interpreters, BUT, and a big but here, the interpreters were not saying everything being signed, many times it was a long pause and lack of speech from them, and not to mention that even with the microphone, one of them spoke so low that I couldn't hear a word he was saying. Summarizing the experience, I didn't get all the information being given by Braam on that day, and the little bit I got was when I moved around a little and the people in front of me moved too and I could see him signing. That's when, again I totally agree with the quote: Access is having the information in the original language. And I know all about that. Being from Brazil, I always hated when I watched an american movie there that was dubbed to Portuguese, the expressions, the intonations of the words and even meanings changed so much that it seems like I was watching a movie and hearing another one. Interpreters just distract the focus from the signed message. I will remember next time to bring some ear-plugs, maybe it will help on that part.
One thing I did noticed again, and I'm hoping it is really a cultural and real value from the Deaf people. They always seem to like the fact that someone is learning sign language. MANY times I have this compliment from a Deaf person, they are proud of me for learning and being interested in their culture. To be honest, I don't understand why it is such a big deal for them, the crazy would be the people who does NOT want to learn, they are the one missing such a great thing, such a rich culture and most beautiful way to express words. The way I feel is, the Deaf people have a goldmine and they are superior than me, and I'm the one who needs their help or approval to reach the "gold" also, when and if I get there, then I can see people feeling proud of me for my accomplishment, but on the "journey" there, a simple "thank you" or "keep up" is enough of a compliment for those who are "not there yet". Anyway, thanks for the compliment!! It may take me some time to get use to receive it, but I'll get there :-)
Once more, it was a great pleasure meeting Braam Jordaan, although it was really fast, the whole experience was rewarding. Wish to have another opportunity to meet Braam again and talk more about his amazing work! I just need to polish even more on the SASL :-)
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