This year Sadler’s Wells launched the start of =dance, a new series featuring some of the most exciting and innovative work created and performed by deaf and disabled artists.
Presenting work by both established and emerging inclusive dance companies, =dance also includes a programme of workshops, discussions and professional development opportunities alongside each performance. The series runs from May 2014 – March 2015 in the biggest presentation of inclusive dance ever programmed by the theatre.
The second production in =dance is from DMD+ (Deaf Men Dancing+) who present Hear! Hear! on Sunday 28 September 2014. Founded by deaf choreographer Mark Smith, DMD+ is made up of professional dancers who are deaf and incorporates a range of dance forms and sign language to create a unique choreographic practice.
Hear! Hear! explores personal and intimate ideas about being deaf, expressed through DMD+ company members’ personal experiences. Accessible to all, Hear! Hear! aims to captivate audiences and change people’s perception of deaf dance.
Hear! Hear! features music based on Mark Smith’s hearing test graphic chart composed by Michael England, giving the audience an insight to how Smith hears music. The songs in the show are written by deaf musician and songwriter, Deafboyone and reflect both Smith’s and Deafboyone’s personal experiences of being deaf and suffering with tinnitus.
For Hear! Hear! Smith works with Caroline Parker MBE, a deaf actress and sign-song artist who performed at the London 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony and who is one of the inspirations for Smith’s latest work. Parker is working with the dancers to develop her style of signing into movement and integrate it into Smith’s choreography.
DMD+’s workshop Creative Deaf Dance on Sunday 28 September 2014 from 2pm – 3.30pm teaches young deaf adults DMD+’s unique choreographic style, led by the company’s founder Mark Smith along with DMD+ dancers Joseph Fletcher and Kevin Jewell.
