DEAFNESS SPURS DANCE ALUM TO ADVOCATE FOR EQUITY ONSTAGE AND OFF

By Anna Gichan, BFA'17

As someone who is severely-to-profoundly Deaf, I access sound differently from the hearing majority. The tools I use to communicate include lip reading, body language, written notes, and ASL interpreters, when available.

When I moved to New York City after graduating from Mason Gross in 2017, I met leaders in the disability arts scene proudly owning their Disability, and I began to wonder for myself, What the world would look like if everyone was Deaf, shifting the narrative from being “a problem” that needed to be fixed through devices to embracing deafness as a strength.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, the invisibility of Deafness became more apparent because the ability to “blend in” through lip-reading no longer worked because of masking. This prompted some more questions: What does communication mean? How do I wish hearing people understood how I experience sound—especially in a dance setting?

I applied for the two-year CUNY Dance Initiative Social Justice Residency (CDI) in partnership with Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Arts Exchange with two goals: to develop my contemporary dance voice through teaching movement workshops; and to build a dance piece centered on my upbringing, which includes my Deaf journey with speech therapy, ASL, and observations of language and communication.

“Ibegan to wonder what the world would look like if everyone was Deaf, shifting the narrative from being ‘a problem’ that needed to be fixed. . . to embracing Deafness as a strength.”

Recently, I applied for the opportunity to share my work at a theater within a curated group and requested an ASL interpreter three weeks prior to our first group meeting. But instead of an interpreter, they offered me a microphone. The disappointment that I experience from the denial of communication needs is woven into much of my work at CDI Brooklyn College, culminating in a work set to premiere in December.

In January, Jeff Friedman of the Mason Gross Dance Department invited me to return for a three-week Integration Lab for disabled choreographers, with the opportunity to rehearse and to present work at Loree Theater and have our access needs met. During tech and the show, interpreters were present, and people were using notes apps to communicate with me. What a reassuring experience it was being able to solely focus on the work rather than worry about the communication process. I hope for a future where performing arts spaces have an access budget to hire interpreters. I hope for a world where more people are educated in various communication styles without fear of silent practices like ASL and written notes. With access work integrated into art, science, public spaces, and healthcare, we create environments for people to be fully engaged.

The Last Word

[I missed] the 3 a.m. coffee runs at 7-Eleven during an all-nighter in the studios; going out for lunch during class breaks with friends; hearing the computers automatically restart at 6 a.m. in the lab,” Art & Design alum Fred Quayenorty said at the January 19 opening for Curtain Call, an exhibit at Mason Gross Galleries. The show featured work by 33 members of the classes of 2020 and 2021, all of whom had missed the chance to present their culminating artwork due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Even when tired, working with other artists in such close proximity is something you don’t think about until it’s gone.”