What's the Importance?
Art in many shapes and forms has been a part of society for many generations. Like anything else in the world that wishes to survive things must change and adapt to fit the world of today. While ballet has changed movements and costuming the traditions of ballet are still held by many companies. The world we live in no longer holds the same values as traditional ballets once did, it's time to expand the nature of the dance world and opening the eyes of many to new ways of thinking.
The Guiding Question?
How does ballet lack diversity and inclusion of culture based off of traditional values for the deaf community?
Frequently asked questions
What are the traditional views of ballet?
Ballet has a long history, and while some aspects have evolved to a more modern approach, many traditions remain. Some of these traditions include:
- Technique and training
- Costuming
- Music
- Preserving historical ballets
- Gender roles
- Professional Development
- Physical Standards
Some traditions can be considered harmless, while others can be regarded as discriminatory and non-inclusive toward anyone who doesn't meet these standards.
What is the culture of the Deaf community?
A person whose has a loss of hearing can be classified as either deaf or Deaf. At first glance this doesn't mean much to most the difference between the two is important. D/Deaf people have a sense of pride and identity in their hearing loss, and do not view it as a medical condition. The primary language of D/Deaf people include American Sign Language leading to in-group-speak, and do not rely on hearing devices. Instead, they find their identity and sense of being inside a community that connects on a cultural level. On the other hand, d/deaf people do view their hearing loss as a medical condition that can prohibit their day-to-day life.
How does traditional ballet views and lack of diversity limit the inclusion of the Deaf community?
Embracing inclusivity within the ballet world opens the stage for the deaf community, inviting a new perspective of dance that enriches the art form for all audiences. Currently there is an outreach and need for more inclusivity being brought to light. Ballet is centered and created upon orchestral music; this can stand as a barrier to those of hearing loss. Another issue is the lack of accessibility. Deaf dancers are not provided an interpreter to communicate their questions or concerns to the artistic director leaving them to fall behind and not keep up with the hearing dancers. With more outreach to be inclusive and accommodating inside the ballet world dancers who have hearing loss can have a chance to be a part of something that should be limited.
Articles (Peer Reviewed)
Teaching Dance to Deaf Students
This text provides insight into how teachers can adapt their teaching skills to be more inclusive of students with hearing loss or no hearing. While the information presented can be applied to any classroom, this text specifically focuses on physical education and dance. This text gives insight into how teachers can adapt their teaching skills to be more inclusive of students with hearing loss or no hearing. While the information presented can be applied to any classroom, this text focuses on physical education and dance.
Perspectives of Persons with Deafness about Deaf Culture with Special Reference to Socio-economic Challenges
While this text provides an insight of how and why people who are deaf experience lower rates of employment than those who are hearing. This article provides an experimental survey that was conducted to give statistical data on how deaf people experience socio-economic challenges. Not only does the research given focuses on the Deaf community as a whole but also researches the subcategories of the community including age, gender and the geography of where one lives. This text brings to light on the issue of the Deaf community experiencing discrimination.
Mobile Bodies: Triggering Bodily Uptake through Movement
Dance is experience through one's physical body. Throughout this text the study of connection between movement and identity is explored. Movement such as dance can bring a sense of identity so can being a part of a culture. This leads to the question of how ones outside environment impact one's identity does when creating movement.
Performance, Transformation, and Community: Contra Dance in New England
This article provides an insight to how dance establishes connections between people of different cultures and diverse backgrounds. Dance doesn't always have to fit into a societal box, but instead reaches out to many to be a part of a shared community. While this article may focus of Contra Dance its themes can be applied to classical ballet. Classical ballet needs to be expanded upon when talking about including more people including deaf people.
Our Work is Working
"Our Work is Working" offers an insight on firsthand artist. Include not only disabled dancers as well as other artist. It gives the reader an understanding to why disability oppression needs to be spoken about. Often times disabled artist feel pushed to the side, but this article helps shines a light on them. Throughout the article it highlights the theme that just because someone may lack the ability to hear, or another considered "disability" that they cannot perform on the same level as someone who fits into the box of a "normal" performer. This article speaks out for disability justice.
Feel the Beat
Anan Hunter is a Deaf dancer, and an artistic director. He founded the Deaf International Dance Festival and strives to giving the feeling of music and dance to those who experience hearing loss. Communication barriers is often experienced from the Deaf community to the Hearing community, this barrier is present in the dance world. He uses the stage as a platform to incorporate Deafness in his movement and works for others to participate in. This video is to shine and light on the accomplishments of Deaf dancers overcoming limitations.
The video "Seeing Deaf People Through a Cultural Lens" highlights the Deaf community as a distinct cultural group with its own identity and values rather than fitting into society's "norms." Similar to the lack of diversity in our society, ballet follows the same trend. Deaf people face challenges in society and ballet due to the lack of inclusion of people who don't fit into a particular box. Like the video, it emphasizes the need to recognize and celebrate the Deaf culture; the ballet world also needs to expand its ideals and embrace a more varied background. This includes people with a different culture and way of life. Acknowledging the significance of Deaf identity and advocating for inclusivity in ballet can create a deeper, more equal environment in the dance world.
Articles (Non-Peer-Reviewed)
Understanding the Difference Between Deaf and D/deaf
Similar to other cultures each have their own beliefs and values. While people can experience hearing loss not everyone considered themselves apart of the Deaf community. There are two main identities when it comes to how one without hearing may identify. There is "Deaf" and "deaf". "Deaf" view their hearing loss as a since of cultural identity in a group of people, they don't opt for hearing devices, and their main course of communication is sign language. On the other hand, "deaf" people do view their deafness as a medical condition and can also be more inclined to receive hearing devices. Throughout the website it stives to push the theme of understanding. The more people know and understand about the differences on the spectrum of hearing loss the more inclusive and accessible society becomes.
Dancing While Deaf: What It's Like to Move to Music You Can't Hear
This website provides an insight to Deaf dancer's experience as they embark on their dance journey. It shines a light on how these dancers are viewed since they are unable to hear. Dance is described as movement but is closely paired with the sounds of music. The dancers open up about the struggles they face in dancing with others, and the teachers as well as performing. While these dancers may not be able to hear the music the vibrations can be felt in their body, then transposed to movement. They share about their struggles of communication, and how that affects their experience with a company or a teacher.
Audism: Meaning, Practice, and How It Affects Deaf People
Audism is the term used to describe a negative discrimination against people with hearing loss. This website provides a detailed description of the definition, the effects, the forms, and solutions to audism. Bringing awareness to the situation allows for more understanding and acceptance for Deaf Culture.
Services
Simone' Welgemoed: The Ballerina Who Happens to be Deaf
This article provides aa specific example of a well know ballerina who is deaf. Simone' Welgemoed is a South African ballet dancer who grew up dancing. Ballet has always been a part of her life but finding a teacher who would accept a deaf student was difficult at first. Being told that since she was deaf, she shouldn't be dancing left her insecure. Later, when she auditioned for roles and companies, she would not tell people she is deaf, making her hide away a large part of her identity. Simone' does have a cochlear implant but still strives to raise awareness for dancers who are deaf and hard of hearing.
This article written by Emmie Strickland follows her experience of a hearing dancer, dancing with a deaf dancer. This provides a new insight and perspective on how deaf dancers are viewed and how the two collaborate. She notes how when she dances how vital her hearing is to her and how different her dancing would be if she couldn't hear her music cueing. It further goes to explain the worries Strickland had when working with a deaf artistic director. The main theme of this article is there is no "perfect" body for dance.
Ballet Unboxed (Dancing Deaf)
In this video I tasked myself to replicate an experience of how a dancer with deafness experiences dance. To replicate this experience, I used noise canceling headphones to only be able to feel the music and not hear it. It was unique, and different then how I am used to dancing. Being able to hear I base my improvisation on beats I hear and how the music sounds. Without my sense of hearing, it was slightly confusing on what move I should do next. This allowed me to truly understand what a deaf dancer may experience, even including what struggles they may face. If I were to have to performed that dance choreographed by someone else a communication barrier arises and dancing in a group setting becomes difficult. Overall, this raised my awareness on why ballet needs to be more accessible and inclusive.
Deaf Community in Tampa Bay
The Tampa Bay area has a diverse population, including the largest population of people with hearing loss and Deafness. Around 340,000 people are part of the Tampa Deaf community, yet the area is inaccessible to them. The following are statistics that show reports of deaf employment rate and education rates between deaf and hearing people based on a census of 2022.
| Employment Rate | Rate |
|---|---|
| Hearing | 72.9% |
| Deaf | 55.8% |
| Postsecondary Education | Rate |
|---|---|
| Hearing | 5% |
| Deaf | 9.9% |
| Employment Rate of Deaf Racial Groups | Rate |
|---|---|
| Black Deaf | 42.3% |
| White Deaf | 58% |
Sources
“A New Look at 2022 Census Data about Deaf People.” National Deaf Center, nationaldeafcenter.org/news-items/a-new-look-at-2022-census-data-about-deaf-people/.
admin. “Feeling the Music: My Experience Dancing with a Deaf Dancer | MyDanceDreams.” Mydancedreams.com, 2019, www.mydancedreams.com/feeling-the-music-my-experience-dancing-with-a-deaf-dancer/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
Berke, Jamie. “How Audism Affects Deaf People.” Verywell Health, 2 May 2020, www.verywellhealth.com/deaf-culture-audism-1046267.
“Feel the Beat Dancing While Deaf - - Video Search Results.” Yahoo.com, 2019, video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?
Hast, Dorothea E. “Performance, Transformation, and Community: Contra Dance in New England.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, 1993, p. 21, https://doi.org/10.2307/1478188. Accessed 24 Nov. 2019.
Jamie. “Understanding the Difference between Deaf and D/Deaf.” Deafvibes.com, 2 June 2024, deafvibes.com/living-with-hearing-loss/what-is-the-difference-between-deaf-and-d-deaf/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
LeMesurier, Jennifer Lin. “Mobile Bodies: Triggering Bodily Uptake through Movement.” College Composition and Communication, vol. 68, no. 2, 2016, pp. 292–316. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44783563. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.
Madison Willoughby. “Ballet Unboxed (Dancing Deaf).” YouTube, 10 Dec. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZv3Cx0i20o. Accessed 10 Dec. 2024.
“Models Matter: Seeing Deaf People through a Cultural Lens | Diana Kautzky | TEDxDesMoines.” Www.youtube.com
“OUR WORK IS WORKING: EBSCOhost.” Ebscohost.com, 2022, web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=10&sid=484eaf38-4e3f-4caf-8b67-2d0c19679e9a%40redis&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPXNoaWImc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl#AN=159252114&db=aph. Accessed 30 Oct. 2024.
Ritzel, Rebecca J. “Dancing While Deaf: What It’s like to Move to Music You Can’t Hear.” Dance Magazine, 1 Jan. 2020, www.dancemagazine.com/deaf-dancers/#gsc.tab=0.
“Statistics - Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf.” Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, 25 June 2023, blossomschool.org/resources/statistics/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
“Simoné Welgemoed: The Ballerina Who Happens to Be Deaf.” Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech, www.clarkeschools.org/clarke-speaks-up/simone-welgemoed-the-ballerina-who-happens-to-be-deaf/.
About me
Madison Willoughby
It all began with a deep passion and love for dance, for fifteen years now she has emersed herself into the world of ballet and technique. She is currently studying at USF for her B.F.A in Dance. On the side she has studied the language of ASL during high school for three years. With her background in both fields, she strives to incorporate the Deaf community into the dance world more.
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