We’re proud to announce a week long virtual symposium, Deaf Artists in Theater: History, Representation and the Future, coming December 8th to December 10th, 2020.

This is a collaboration between BH05, SDCF and tall poPpy, inc. Please join us each night for roundtable conversations on engagement and best practices, intersectionality and representation, and next steps for DASL (Directors of Artistic Sign Language) recognition in the field.

Participants include Michelle Banks, Linda Bove, Monique Holt, Antoine Hunter, Jenny Koons, Patty Liang, Oni Nicolarakis, Guthrie Nutter, Alexandria Wailes, Claire Warden, and Bianca Ware.

For their full bios, see below.

Registration:

Tickets start at $10 per day, or a discounted price of $25 for all three panel days. All ticket proceeds go directly towards the presenters, moderators, coverage of ASL interpreters and general operational expenses for the DASL Series.

If you’re unable to attend, but would like to make a donation, please click “tickets” on the Eventbrite page and follow the instructions to make a donation. 

Click here to purchase tickets.

Schedule:

• Tuesday, December 8, 2020 6 – 8PM ET:
  • ENGAGE: What are some best practices for hearing folks to keep in mind when working with Deaf talent? What does a DASL (Director of Artistic Sign Language) do, and why are they essential? Learn from artists who are at the center of this movement (including a 2nd generation member of the National Theatre of the Deaf). Presenters: Linda Bove & Monique ‘MoMo’ Holt; Moderator: Guthrie Nutter.
    

• Wednesday, December 9, 2020 6:30 – 8:30PM ET:
  • INVESTIGATE: What does intersectional Deaf representation really look like? Interact with Deaf Artistic Directors, Company Founders, and Artists who will share their experiences of reflecting the world through their art around the world (including through VOCA: Visionaries of the Creative Arts, inc and the Urban Jazz Dance Company). Presenters: Michelle Banks, Antoine Hunter; Guest: Bianca Ware; Moderator: Patty Liang.
    

• Thursday, December 10, 2020 6 – 8PM ET:
  • IMPLEMENT & PRACTICE: How can we all learn from other movements to create more equitable environments? Engage with intimacy directors and DASLs on the parallels of the development and artistry of their roles, and what the next steps are as DASLs gain more recognition for their work. Presenters: Claire Warden, Onudeah ‘Oni’ Nicolarakis & Alexandria Wailes; Moderator: Jenny Koons.
    

All ticket proceeds go directly towards the presenters, moderators, coverage of ASL interpreters and general operational expenses for the DASL Series. Please consider giving a donation if you’re unable to attend.

The webinar zoom link will be sent out via email through Zoom closer to the event date. If you don’t receive a link by Monday, December 7th, please contact SDCF Program Associate Dani Cattan at dcattan@sdcfoundation.org.

Ticket buyers will get access to video recordings of the panels.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you soon!

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Michelle A. Banks: Michelle A. Banks, a native of Washington, DC, is an award-winning actress, writer, director, producer, choreographer, motivational speaker, and teacher. Former Artistic Director of Onyx Theatre Company for over 11 years in NYC. Her other achievements include the 2017 recipient of Gallaudet University’s Laurent Clerc Award, the 2002 recipient of the Christopher Reeve Acting Scholarship, an Individual Achievement Award from the National Council on Communicative Disorders, and a featured article in the February 1998 issue of Essence magazine. Michelle’s most recent producing/directing credits: Gallaudet University’s A Raisin in the Sun, Look Through My Eyes, Silent Scream, Z: A Christmas Story, What it’s Like? (One Man Show) and In Sight and Sound: De(a)f Poetry I, II, & III. Her acting appearances include Sole (TV Pilot), The C.A Lyons Project (Alliance Theatre), Soul Food(Showtime Series), Strong Medicine (Lifetime), Girlfriends (UPN), Compensation (Independent Film), For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When Rainbow is Enuf (NY & LA) and Big River (Mark Taper Forum & Ford Theater). Currently, Michelle Banks is the Artistic Director of VOCA – Visionaries of the Creative Arts, Inc. – www.visionariesofthecreativearts.org.

Linda Bove: Linda Bove’s career as an author, creator, consultant, director, actor DASL and a certified deaf interpreter spans fifty years. Ms. Bove is probably most well-known for her work on Sesame Street from 1970-2002. She has worked as a DASL on various Broadway, Off Broadway, regional, TV and film productions. Among them being the revivals of Big River at Roundabout’s American Airlines Theatre and Spring Awakening at the Brooks Atkinson. Both productions were co-produced by Deaf West Theatre, of which she is one of the founding members. Deaf West was founded by Ed Waterstreet, in Los Angeles, 1991.

Work as a DASL/consultant- Regional: Spring Awakening, (Wallis Annenberg Theatre), American Buffalo (CSU), Pippin (Mark Taper Forum), Big River (Deaf West & Mark Taper Forum); TV: ‘Sweet Nothing in My Ear’ (Hallmark/CBS), ‘Sesame Street’ (Children’s Television Workshop), with Random House Video and MCA/Universal Studios; Film: ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’ (Interscope Films).

Her work as a CDI began in 1997 in the City of Los Angeles, Superior Courts and since then, worked in Phoenix, AZ courts, Las Vegas, NV, Dallas TX and the Superior Courts of Little Rock, AR. In addition to many accolades from Deaf West productions, Bove received the Bernard Bragg Artistic Achievement Award and a Media Advocacy Award.

Monique ‘MoMo’ Holt: Monique ‘MoMo’ Holt, MFA, CDI, AEA/SAG-AFTRA – one of 17 BIPOC Certified Deaf Interpreters (CDI). She was a part of the Deaf theater Sign Masters (SM) in Metro DC. The team felt the abbreviation of Sign Master to SM is confusing with the Stage Manager. They conned this new title: Director of Artistic Sign Language. When it is abbreviated to DASL and it also sounded like dazzle. Therefore, it is DASL’s job to dazzle Deaf patrons. Kennedy Center’s Access Office & VSA endorsed the title change. BU & VSA hired MoMo to train both Deaf theater people & hearing interpreters for theater settings. OSF hired MoMo as the sign coach for the production of CYMBELINE and she helped Bill Rauch with text editing and sign choreographing for the Deaf and hearing actors. She wishes to see more opportunities for DASLs and get their work recognized.

Antoine Hunter: Bay Area native, Antoine Hunter also known Purple Fire Crow is an award-winning Internationally-known African-American, Indigenous, Deaf, Disable, choreographer, dancer, actor, instructor, speaker, Producer and Deaf advocate. He creates opportunities for Disable, Deaf and hearing artists and produces Deaf-friendly events, and founded the Urban Jazz Dance Company and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival. Antoine has received numerous grants and awards including the inaugural Jeanette Lomujo Bremond Award for Humanity, Isadora Duncan (Izzie) for Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival, and SF King of Carnaval. Antoine’s work has been performed globally, most recently in the Turkey, UK and Russia. He has lectured across the U.S. including at Kennedy Center’s VSA, Harvard and Duke University, and the National Assembly of State Arts. In 2019 alone, his company Urban Jazz Dance Company, an ensemble of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers, performed for and engaged more than 4,200 schoolchildren. His shoe company DropLabs and Susan Paley just released an innovative product to help people feel music through their shoes. He is Vice President of Deaf Counseling, Advocacy and Referral Agency (DCARA’s) Board. DCARA is a non-profit, community-based social service agency serving the deaf community. Established in 1962 as one of the first deaf-run agencies in the country. www.RealUrbanJazzDance.com the Deaf and hearing actors. She wishes to see more opportunities for DASLs and get their work recognized.

Jenny Koons: Recent Projects: Now Becomes Then (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Men on Boats (Baltimore Center Stage), Speechless (New Blue Man Group North American Tour), The Tempest (Juilliard School), Between Us: The Deck of Cards (Denver Center), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Public Theater Mobile Unit), Burn All Night (American Repertory Theatre), Gimme Shelter (Why Not Theatre, 2015 Pan Am Games commission), Theatre for One: I’m Not the Stranger You Think I Am (Arts Brookfield), A Sucker Emcee (National Black Theatre, LAByrinth Theater Company), Queen of the Night (Diamond Horseshoe), The Odyssey Project 2012 (site-specific NYC). Jenny was the 2017 curator of the Encores! Off-Center Lobby Project, co-curator of the 2016 ThisGen Conference, and co-founder of Artists 4 Change NYC (National Black Theatre). She has been an artist in residence at Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and The Invisible Dog Art Center and has developed new work at Ars Nova, Steppenwolf, Roundabout, and New Black Fest. Jenny has been a facilitator and educator in creating anti-racist spaces and engaging in conversations around race and equity for over a decade, in both non-profit and artistic spaces.

Patty Liang: Patty Liang is the Executive Director of Deaf Spotlight, which oversees artistic and cultural programming to support Deaf artists and their work. Throughout her career, Patty has pursued opportunities that encourage the Deaf community to embrace and celebrate the arts. She has a BFA in Ceramics from the University of Washington, and an MA in Nonprofit Management for the Arts from New York University. She believes that everyone has the ability to create and express their story through art.

Onudeah Nicolarakis: Onudeah Nicolarakis has advised interpreted theatre for the deaf and hard of hearing community.  Once with The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park (The Tempest) and The New Group/Vineyard Theatre (Daddy).  Her first stint as the Director of American Sign Language was with The Public’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.  Nicolarakis’ goal has been to ensure that the theatre experience for the deaf does not feel “interpreted,” but rather, an accessible part of an ensemble.

Guthrie Nutter: Guthrie Nutter serves as the Coordinator of Marketing and Program Development for ASL Connect, a platform providing American Sign Language learning experiences geared towards adult learners, families, and businesses. Guthrie has a long history in theatre and film, with Broadway credits including Big River and Broadway Inspiration Voices. TV credits include Nurse Jackie and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. first as an adjunct online educator, and now full-time as the Coordinator for Marketing and Program Development since 2018. Outside of ASL Connect, Guthrie has produced several published video works, such as the Deaf Culture Webisode series, and Bridging The Divide: First Language Acquisition. He loves both the cosmopolitan and outdoor lives, swinging between both locations. Special thanks to Alexandria Wailes for her talent, and nurturing her creative community to thrive, and the National Theater of the Deaf’s proteges including Phyllis Frelich, Linda Bove, Ed Waterstreet, Freda Norman, Monique Holt and many more.

Alexandria Wailes: Alexandria Wailes, an actor, director, choreographer, dancer and DASL received the 2020 Obie Special citation for Sustained Excellence as an Artist and Advocate and a Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play For Colored Girls.. at The Public. Additional credits as well as film, TV and web can be checked out at www.alexandriawailes.com A proud member of AEA, SDC and SAG-AFTRA.

Claire Warden: Claire is an intimacy director and coordinator, fight director, teacher and actress and has worked in theatre, TV and film across America, Europe and the UK. As Curriculum Development Coordinator of Intimacy Director and Coordinators, she is part of the team helming the intimacy direction movement across America and the world.

Claire has worked as intimacy coordinator on television and film productions under studios including HBO, Hulu, Amazon, Showtime, Sony and 20th Century Fox. She is part of the team advising SAG-AFTRA on their protocols for nudity and hyper-exposed work.

Claire recently made history as the first intimacy director on Broadway with Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and also worked as intimacy director on the Broadway productions of Slave Play, The Inheritance, Jagged Little Pill, Linda Vista, Company and West Side Story. She was recently awarded Variety Magazine’s 2019 ’10 Broadway Players to Watch’ as well a special Drama Desk Award for “pioneering work as an intimacy choreographer… and her leadership in the rapidly emerging movement of intimacy direction”. www.IDCprofessionals.com www.clairewarden.com

Bianca Ware: Bianca Ware is an artistic old soul hailing from the urban landscapes of Wisconsin. She has been dancing since she was four years old, trained in various styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, and African Dance. Bianca holds a BFA degree in Dance: African Dance and the Diaspora, with a professional background in Ko-Thi Dance Company as a dancer, musician, and research assistant in Milwaukee, WI. She draws inspiration from her years of travel nationally and abroad, gaining new experiences by immersing in different cultures, languages, and the people. Most notably is her long term stay in Gragnano, Campania, Italy where she taught English in various schools in the region.

Bianca has great hopes to inspire and ignite creativity within the Deaf community across the country, and ultimately the world. She enjoys exploring the art of dance, ASL song and poetry, acting with Sunshine 2.0, and teaching valuable material that enhances growth within the youth and adults alike. Her dream is to open a School of Dance for the Deaf one day, and she knows she’s well on her way.