Meet: Hearns Sebuado, a professional dancer who doesn’t let his deafness hold him back

Hi Hearns, can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am a freelance dance artist and I was born in Philippines and raised here in London at the age of 10. It was actually the same age and year I become deaf, the cause of my deafness is still unknown – I just woke up one morning and I am deaf.

I speak Filipino, English, a bit of Spanish, I sign BSL and ASL (although I’m not entirely fluent in ASL yet!)

How did you first get into dance?

I always wanted to be a dancer! Once, when I was younger, there was a time when I was watching dance groups rehearse outside in the streets in the Philippines and they all danced hip hop so I became very fascinated and tried to get involved with it.

So were those street groups your greatest inspiration?

To be honest, my greatest inspiration was watching Mikhail Baryshnikov. It made me feel inspired to further my dance style and from this I ended up going to college to study performing arts and later I went to University.

What dance styles have you trained in?

My background is Latin and Hip Hop, so they’re my strongest but I have trained in musical theatre, contemporary, ballet and jazz. Training in lots of styles has allowed me to expand my knowledge and skills in dance.

Contemporary dance is the reason why I fell in love even further because it tells a story, it has dynamics and flows fluidly. I trained in contemporary dance at Middlesex University for 3 years and the hard work was definitely worth it because I learned so much from it technically and performance wise.

What have been your biggest challenges as a dancer who is deaf?

Every day is a challenge. But in dance, a lot of the time I cant hear the music so I have to make time to study it and learn the rhythms. I used to teach choreography without using music but for other dancers it seems totally unexpected to learn choreography without hearing the music first. So normally I study and use amplifiers to listen to the music before I start choreographing the movements so I am aware about the beats. This helps me to teach others by learning the rhythms.

The dance world is notoriously tough – how have you found it?

I always throw myself in dance industry. There was a time when rejection was taking its toll on me and I became self conscious, wondering if they just rejected me because of my deafness. I understand that the dance world is a cut throat industry but I always take risks. As for my deafness, in order to use music I listen to it countless of times over and over again until it gets stuck in my head. Its not that an easy task for me but with repetition its become a regular routine.  I work hard.

Can you tell us what sort of exciting dance projects and jobs you have had?

I have done so many projects! A very exciting part was touring and performing in Louisiana and Miami, and also going to Azerbaijan as a dancer. However, the biggest break for my career was definitely starring in The Who Tommy Tour (by Ramps on the Moon) as it had always been my dream to perform in a musical and it was definitely pinnacle of my dance career!

Do you have any ambitions?

I just aim to always take risks to be able to succeed in the dance world and to be able to showcase my skills and talents.

Who would you most like to work with?

Travis Wall because he is one of the greatest choreographer and dancers!

What advice would you give to budding dancers who are also deaf?

Don’t be afraid to take risks and don’t let your deafness stop you from believing yourself. Show the world what you are made of.

Hearns Sebuado is a professional dancer, currently devising a new contemporary choreography for an R&D development. When he is not dancing he works as a pastry chef and cake maker in London.

Photography credit: Stephen Wright