Rebecca-Anne Withey: Deafness is no barrier to dance

Back when I was at University studying Performance Arts, I wrote my dissertation on inner rhythm and the theory that deaf dancers have an innate sense of musicality that enables them to succeed in dance, despite their deafness.

I was fortunate to work with several dance companies and for freelance dancers, encouraging more deaf people to forge careers in dance. A highlight of this was, of course, co-founding the all deaf dance group Def Motion back in 2011 with Billy Read.

Since then, however, things have been pretty quiet on the dance front for deaf people. Yes, there was the Smirnoff dance advertisement featuring a handful of deaf dancers, and there was the excitement of deaf dancer Chris Fonseca appearing on BBC 1’s The Greatest Dancer.

But it seems there is still a stigma regarding deaf people being able to train in dance. Why? Because it uses music.

I was chatting to a friend recently, who has a deaf daughter. She told me how her mainstream school excludes her daughter from dance and music classes at school.

I am also aware of another school with a deaf unit where deaf children are withdrawn from music lessons and taken to the unit to work on other “more appropriate” topics.

I’ve personally experienced exclusion, with dance teachers telling me I needed to bring an interpreter if I wanted to access their class or to sign up with a “group of deaf friends” for a “special lesson” that cost a fortune when all I wanted was to turn up by myself at a regular class.

Deaf people worry too. I was recently booked to deliver a dance workshop for deaf people and all it seemed everybody wanted to know beforehand was “how will I hear the music??!”

Yes, it seems a lot of the time music and dance go hand in hand. But, as I’ve discovered, in my life there is an awful lot more to dance than just the musical accompaniment. If you are a school or dance training facility and you’re wondering how to be more accessible to deaf people, the following pointers may help.

1. If you want to use music, LIVE instruments are preferable. Not only are these louder and clearer to follow (for those with some hearing) but they also act as a visual cue that turns rhythm from just being an auditory experience to a visual one.

2. Be a visual teacher. Demonstrate a dance move or exercise WITHOUT talking through it. Demonstrate, then explain afterwards. You can also use hand cues to count people in or demonstrate a steady rhythm throughout a dance piece.

3. Make time for devising dance in silence. This enables dancers to direct rhythm themselves and takes the pressure off deaf dancers to follow or understand audible music.

If you’re an aspiring dancer who also happens to be deaf, this is what I would share with you.

1. Develop a keen understanding of rhythm. Get yourself a drum, beat on your legs, practise making rhythms and following them and enable your body to express musicality. This will give you a steady foundation to work with whenever a rhythmical phrase is presented to you.

2. Watch, watch, watch. Immerse yourself in videos, theatre shows, movies of dancers and study the varying styles and intricacies of each genre. Dance styles tend to be influenced by the musical sound, the sultry jazz drags, the spiky bounce from a jive, the staccato of a Tango– learn to recognise these with your eyes instead of your ears.

3. Practise. Whether you go to a dance school, local class or a social hall, you need to dance to actually be a dancer. Forget about what your deafness stops you from doing and instead focus on the talent that you’re nurturing. We can all learn dance, just in different ways!

I firmly believe that dance is a natural form of expression for deaf people. We need to encourage deaf dancers to hone their talents while feeling supported and included by the schools or training institutes they attend. Rhythm is most definitely innate and certainly not dependent only on audible cues.

Nyle Di Marco won America’s Dancing with the Stars, remember? Let’s try and get some of our deaf talent on Strictly 😉

The sky’s the limit.