BAY AREA DEAF ARTS

BAY AREA DEAF ARTS

BAY AREA DEAF ARTS

BAY AREA DEAF ARTS

BAY AREA DEAF ARTS
January 14–February 21, 2021
Curated by Antoine Hunter
Curatorial Residency Exhibition
Upcoming Programs | Virtual Gallery Experience | Safety Plan


Bay Area Deaf Arts celebrate and center the art forms and cultural expression historically rooted in the Deaf community, raising Deaf awareness in non-Deaf populations, and inviting collaboration between Hearing and Deaf artists. Curated by renowned performer and activist Antoine Hunter for SOMArts’ Curatorial Residency program, this exhibition asks us: Where are the voices of Deaf and Deaf people of color? What truths are we willing to listen to? Do you know they have more to show than just talk about Deaf culture itself?

This exhibition celebrates the shared language of the Bay Area Deaf community, American Sign Language (ASL). Hunter invites audiences to listen and learn about Deaf arts, Deaf Queer arts, Deaf BIPOC arts, Deaf women arts, Deaf with disabilities and more. The virtual gallery and accompanying programs are open to both Deaf and Hearing community members in any location around the world.



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​EXHIBITING ARTISTS Antoine Hunter ASL Love clare cassidy Deepa Agarwal Drago Renteria Gungaa Tuvshinbat Jon Kastrup Orkid Sassouni CURATOR Antoine Hunter

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Click Here to VIEW UPCOMING PROGRAMS

Grand Opening Night with Bay Area Deaf Arts (Click play to watch) 

Tune in via Facebook or YouTube live for
Bay Area Deaf Arts virtual programs!
​Don't forget to subscribe.
Programs are subject to change and we invite you to follow UJDC, Antoine Hunter and SOMArts on social media  .

ABOUT THE CURATOR
Bay Area native Antoine Hunter, also known Purple Fire Crow, is an award-winning Internationally-known African-American, Indigenous, Deaf, Disabled, 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.
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Antoine’s work has been performed globally, most recently in Turkey, the 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.

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“A pattern of light emerges through my comprehension of a patina of understanding of my traumatic childhood, identity crisis and adulthood journey; though fragmented, vivid and without resolution. I seek to make the world brighter, more colorful, joyful and to give the viewer an optimistic outlook and help deal with the negativity in the world,”
​shares artist Jon Kastrup.

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News:

Internationally acclaimed deaf dancer Antoine Hunter is the curator of a virtual art exhibit in San Francisco called the “Bay Area Deaf Arts.” The exhibit is open to anyone online and continues until February 21. Website: https://somarts.org/event/bada
​Transcript: www.dailymoth.com/blog/bay-area-deaf-arts-festival

‘Bay Area Deaf Arts’ exhibition explores the diverse experiences of Deaf creators by Joe Dworetzky, Bay City News Foundation February 4, 2021 (Click Here to read the Full article!) 

THE trigger I SURVIVED AT 9 YEARS OLD by Antoine Hunter

Warning ⚠️ this artistic video may make you cry or triggered.... be patience with yourself..
(Story is below)
THE TRIGGER I SURIVEd AT 9 YEARS OLD-
I’m 9 years old and it 2020...

This video: Masculinity? Masculine (collective Black man) identity presence either threatens white privileged “authority” or triggers modern day lynching anxiety.

With every beat of a clock, video I watched that documents a black life being beaten, robbed, tricked, mocked, and stolen, my Black Deaf soul fades, fades, fades.

VIDEO: Stamped:
5 minute artistic video by Antoine Hunter. Antoine is a dark dark-skinned African American, Cherokee, and Blackfoot Native American man with long black dreadlocks and a full ebony beard. He is wearing a fitted black v-neck shirt and sitting in front of a solid blue background.

00:00-00:10 The video begins with a portrait-mode video centered over a black wide-screen background. Antoine looks directly into the camera, smiling, and rearranges his hair until he is pleased with how he looks. The audience views Antoine through the lens of his phone, alternating between interacting with the phone and directly addressing viewers.

00:10 Antoine signs PRECIOUS and swipes his hand across the camera suggesting a filter change. He then begins laughing hard and holds his left hand on his chest.

00:18 Antoine swipes across the camera again, purses his lips, and shakes his head in light disagreement with what he sees on his screen.

00:27 He swipes his finger across the screen and is empowered indeed beauty with his look. He snaps his fingers in a zig-zag across his chest.

00:31 Antoine swipes across his screen again and his facial expression slowly changes from happy to concerned to and he leans back from the camera.

00:42-01:15- Antoine watches the screen and begins to tear up.

01:15 Antoine’s left eye drifts to the side while his right eyes stare straight and white text appears at the bottom of the screen reading (Eyes Twisted). The camera zooms to a close up of Antoine’s eyes and a single tear spills over from his left eye.

01:47 The camera angle switches back to portrait mode and tears run down Antoine’s face. His eyes shift slightly to the right then return to the camera.

02:00 The video fades out and another portrait mode shot appears. Antoine brushes his beard and sings and signs I’m Black, Deaf and I’m Proud. Music notes and red, yellow and black calligraphy text appears: I’m Black, DEAF, and I’m proud.

02:00-2:15 Antoine snaps his fingers, brushes his beard, sings, and moves to the beat of his song and brushes his hair.

02:15- The clip fades out and another fades in of  Antoine crying, his left eye fully to the side. The camera slowly pans out.

02:23- Solid white flashes across the screen and a closeup widescreen shot of Antoine screaming appears.

02:23-2:41 Antoine screams and shakes. The camera pans out and the video slowly returns to portrait mode as Antoine, head down, raises clenched fists and continues to screen and shake in clear emotional agony. Antoine looks directly into the camera then looks down and

02:41-2:52 Tears roll down Antoine’s cheeks as he looks into the camera and lowers his fists.

02:54-2:58 A new clip fades in of Antoine wearing a red half-face mask. He struggles to breathe and uncovers his mouth and nose. He clenches his hands over his chest and removes the mask.

02:58 The portrait mode shot of Antoine with tears running down his cheeks reappears.

03:00-3:07 A new clip of Antoine, bare-chested, appears. He looks rapidly from left to right in terror, attempting to protect himself from unseen threats.

03:07-3:09 The screen flashes to Antoine in the black shirt tucking his hair behind his right ear.

03:09 The screen flashes back to Antoine bare-chested and protecting himself.

03:14 A brief flash of Antoine tucking his hair behind his right ear blends into a clip of him laughing with increasing intensity, both clips are transparent and can be seen simultaneously as they blend together. He appears to be holding his heart as he laughs and claps his hands together as if being told a hilarious joke.

03:30 Antoine signing gradually appears, transparent, behind the clip of him tilting his head back and laughing. He signs WHEN WILL THIS STOP?

03:33 Antoine yells and signs WOO and places his hands across his chest, his laughter verges on tears and he signs YES!

03:40 Two portrait shot clips of Antoine appear, juxtaposed. LEFT CLIP: Antoine’s palms are pressed together in prayer at his forehead. His eyes are closed as he says his prayers with all his heart.

RIGHT CLIP: Antoine signs, When will this STOP as he looks directly into the camera. He signs, When will we be able to grow together? SUBTITLE: When will this STOP.  When will we be able to grow together

04:09-4:25 LEFT CLIP: Antoine continues to pray and tears roll down his cheeks.
RIGHT CLIP: Antoine signs This MUST stop. The HATE MUST STOP. The RACISM and DISCRIMINATION MUST STOP. | SUBTITLES:  HATE MUST STOP. The RACISM and DISCRIMINATION MUST STOP

04:26 LEFT CLIP: Antoine signs love.

04:27-04:40 LEFT CLIP: Antoine lowers his hands, closes his eyes, and cries softly. He raises his left fist, palm out, in a sign of solidarity, resistance, and strength. He wipes his tears away and begins to braid his hair behind his head. RIGHT CLIP: Antoine signs STOP the KILLING and shifts his eyes down in a slow blink. He then looks straight into the camera. He leans forward, points into the camera, eyebrows raised, and signs you, STOP the KILLING | SUBTITLES: STOP the KILLING

04:40: LEFT CLIP: Antoine holds his hair behind his head with his right hand and wipes away tears with his left hand. He continues to braid his hair. RIGHT CLIP: Antoine taps his chest, his heart, and signs: WE HUMAN here, He takes deep breaths and slowly blinks his eyes. He signs WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! | SUBTITLES: WE HUMAN here. WE ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!

4:50: LEFT CLIP: Antoine looks directly into the camera and finishes braiding his hair. He raises his fist again in the sign for solidarity, resistance, and strength. RIGHT CLIP: He signs, STOP the KILLING. He looks off camera, to the right, then the left, then directly at the camera and nods. He signs a final time STOP the KILLING. | SUBTITLES: STOP the KILLING.

05:00: LEFT CLIP: goes out. RIGHT CLIP: Antoine looks into the camera one last time.]

Warning ⚠️ this artistic video may make you cry or triggered.... be patience with yourself..

THE TRIGGER I SURIVEd AT 9 YEARS OLD-
I’m 9 years old and it 2020...

This video: Masculinity? Masculine (collective Black man) identity presence either threatens white privileged “authority” or triggers modern day lynching anxiety.

With every beat of a clock, video I watched that documents a black life being beaten, robbed, tricked, mocked, and stolen, my Black Deaf soul fades, fades, fades.

https://vimeo.com/423479123/f98002b7f8

Video Description subtitles  - for Deaf -Description
https://youtu.be/lBkAflzBlj4
Ps We Aint WEAK!

Make your stomach sick?
Trigger the neuroendocrine mechanisms that produce inflammation and  Emotional Dysregulation of the immune system.

Kenya Downs from PBS wrote...
When black wrongful death goes viral, it can trigger PTSD-like trauma. It was written- people of color, frequent exposure to the shootings of black people can have long-term mental health effects.

A 2012 study found that black Americans reported experiencing discrimination at significantly higher rates than any other ethnic minority. The study, which surveyed thousands of African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian-Americans, also found that blacks who perceived discrimination the most, were more likely to report symptoms of PTSD. Although African-Americans have a lower risk for many anxiety disorders, the study reported a PTSD prevalence rate of 9.1 percent in blacks, compared to 6.8 percent in whites, 5.9 percent in Hispanics, and 1.8 percent in Asians.

QUESTION: What does this mean for BLACK Deaf people and BLACK Disable people?

Antoine Hunter Join Luna Dance for Disability Awareness & Panel,

Hey everyone,  I know it's been a long time but I need to tell you. I'm doing great and a live.  I've just been busy doing more and more for my community. I want you sure this information with you.  Oct 15, 2016, a full day of Dance & Disability Awareness.  Theses wonderful people, who are leaders and have so much wisdom to share with you. Like I said, We have so much to share with you and if you're interested please join us!! Read below for more information.  A Full Day of Dance &  Disability  Awareness Join us on October 15th   Keeping the Bar High Discourse & Panel,    3-5 pm, Free Luna is honored to host a panel of experts to lead this critical conversation:  Judith Smith, founder of Axis Dance Company, has earned an international reputation in the field of physically integrated dance. Antoine Hunter, founder of Urban Jazz Dance is an award-winning African-American Deaf choreographer, dancer, instructor, & Deaf advocate. Emily A. Nusbaum,  assistant professor at USF is developing critical, qualitative research methods related to disability & experiences of post-secondary students who identify as disabled. Eric Kupers, Co-Artistic Director of Dandelion Dancetheater, & Associate Professor of Dance at CSU East Bay heads an inclusive interdisciplinary performance program & ensemble.    Dr. Rebecca Hawley,  for over 20 years has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education, Early Intervention/ Special Education. Her research focuses on historically under served populations & issues of equitable access.  Rebecca Prather, Speech and Language Therapist & Arts Integration Coach with the Larkspur Corte-Madera School District, specializes in Autism Spectrum Disorders & Alternative Augmentative Communication.  Dance & Disability Workshop 12-3 pm, $100 Learn more about teaching in public school preK-8 inclusion classrooms, special ed, community settings, and the Universal Design for learning guidelines.   Register today! October 15, 2016                                                  605 Addison Street 12-5 pm                                                                 Berkeley, CA 94710 For more info:   nwomack-freeman@lunadanceinstitute.org Business Name | Phone | E-mail | Website Copyright © 20XX. All Rights Reserved.

Luna Dance Institute, 605 Addison St., Berkeley, CA 94710-1972

Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival 2016

Antoine Hunter's Urban Jazz Dance, in collaboration with Dance Mission Theater presents...

Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival 2016

Director and Founder: Mr. Antoine Hunter

Assistant Director: Zahna Simon

Mission: The Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival (BAIDDF) is an annual event produced by Urban Jazz Dance company that consists of performances and workshops that highlight the important contributions that Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) artists make to our community.

This Year: 

We have Deaf Artists flying in from London, Turkey, Mexico and Washington DC to name a few.   There will be a diversity of Sign Languages including but not limited to Mexican Sign Language (LSM), British Sign Language (BSL) and Turkey Sign Language.  Plus don't miss Sound, light and vibration engineering provided by Bobby Cox of Six Second Monks, a local Deaf Art Collective.

Deaf USA Celebrities: 

Antoine Hunter, CJ Jones, and Fred Beam

The 4th Annual Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival:

Aug 12-14, 2016 

Dance Mission Theater 

3316 24th St, 

San Francisco, CA 94110

(Close to 24th and Mission Bart) 

Date and Time:

Fri, Aug 12th - 8pm

Sat, Aug 13th- 8pm

Sun, Aug 14th- 4pm ( There will be a different program for the family friendly matinee)

 http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2561054 

Price:

$30 at Door  

$25 on line

$12 Youth (under 16)

Babies Free

Group Discount (Please Call)  (415) 863-9824

Special Event!!

Meet the Artists Brunch:

Saturday August 13th 10 am-1 pm

Deaf Community Center (DCC)

1550 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577

Come to our special "Meet and the Greet" our local and Guest Deaf Artists plus famous Deaf Artworks by Guy Wonder will be presented for sale.  Don't miss this opportunity to catch Q&A with the Artists plus live interviews and a fabulous delicious brunch provided by our Local Bay Area Deaf Cheif Philip Smith Jr!!

Special Admission Price: $5 at the door if you show your Deaf Dance Festival Ticket

Workshops: We’re excited to provide Jazz, Hip-Hop, Ballet, ASL DANCE, and more different types of dance classes taught by International, Domestic and Local Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Hearing artists who sign fluently.  These workshops will be taught for both Youth and Adult participants in various locations including Richmond, Santa Cruz, Oakland, San Francisco, South Bay and other parts of the Bay Area...

Workshop Schedule:

Wednesday August 10th 6-10 pm

Deaf Community Center (DCC)

1550 San Leandro Blvd, San Leandro, CA 94577

6:30-8 pm Deaf Dance Academy from Istanbul, Turkey to present Belly Dance...

• Anatolian Folk Dance :

This dance is called "halay" in Turkish, belongs to East and Southern East side of Turkey. It is danced hand to hand and symbolizes unity and solidarity.

• Belly Dance: 

It is the esthetichs and rhythmic reflection of waist and hips with the arms to the body. The musics of the dance consist of Egypt and Turkish melodies. It mostly addresses to women participants.

Price: $5 (you are welcome to donate more and no one is turned away due to lack of funds)

8-10 pm Sign Dance Collective from London, United Kingdom to present:

Improvisation:

We have developed a way of improvising in dance which is very accessible.  It really can be for everyone...there is some contact involved but mainly it is about responding to impulse and variation in  using space and how the  the performer works in relation to the space and each other in an improvisation . We also pay a lot of attention to the use of the spine and the expression of the whole body . If there is space for wheelchair users we can include everyone .

Price: $5 (you are welcome to donate more and no one is turned away due to lack of funds)

Saturday August 13th 3:30-5 pm

Dance Mission Theater

3316 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110

CJ Jones of Los Angeles, CA to present..

Creative Rhythms:

Creative rhythm game 

Demonstrate cajon drum 

Hands on cajon drum 

Create beat rhythm through cajon drum

Create ensemble body language beat based on creative rhythm 

Special Ensemble performance in the evening

Price: $5 (you are welcome to donate more and no one is turned away due to lack of funds)

Sunday August 14th, 12-2 pm

Dance Mission Theater

3316 24th St, San Francisco, CA 94110

Antoine Hunter to teach Youth Workshops!  Youth of all ages welcome!

Suggested Donation: $5

No one is turned away for lack of funds!

If you are interested in becoming involved with the BADDF as either a performer or volunteer,  Please email Antoine Hunter at thegreatedancerah@gmail.com or Zahna Simon at zahnasimon@gmail.com

This project is made possible in part by support from the California Arts Council and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Epiphany Productions is the fiscal sponsor for Urban Jazz Dance’s Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival. Visit www.epiphanydance.org.

Antoine Hunter and Urban Jazz Dance Company will be performing!! Green Show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.

Antoine Hunter and Urban Jazz Dance Company will be performing!!

Green Show at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon.

Friday July 22nd and Saturday July 23rd at 6:45 pm

Free admission located outside!!

Come support! We will be there with the whole company!

https://www.osfashland.org/artist-biographies/green-show/Urban-Jazz-Dance-Company.aspx

Urban Jazz Dance Company

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Performing in the 2016 Green Show on Friday, July 22 and Saturday, July 23   

This is their first season at the OSF Green Show.

Deaf, artistic, RAW-energy, FREEDOM, expressed, athletic-bODY, UNCONTROLLABLE, PASSIONATE dancers.

Founded in 2007 by pioneering Deaf dancer/choreographer Antoine Hunter, Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJD) consists of a mix of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers. UJD's mission is to provide opportunities for deaf and other-abled artists to contribute to the arts and larger society, increasing awareness around deaf issues via the performing arts. Featuring the syncopation of urban jazz rhythms, the company values the importance of play and performance to connect cultures of all races, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. UJD performs all over the Bay Area and beyond, including festival such as; the Black Choreographers Festival, CubaCaribe Festival, Art and Soul Festival, and the Ethnic Dance Festival. Its programs thrill deaf and hearing audiences alike. UJD is also the producer of the annual Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival and views deafness as a human experience with its own values, principles, and cultural norms – not a disability.

A Bay Area native, director Antoine Hunter is an award-winning African-American Deaf and Hard of Hearing choreographer, dancer, dance instructor, actor, poet, and deaf advocate. The founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance, Hunter has performed with Savage Jazz Dance Company, Nuba Dance Theater, Alayo Dance Company, Robert Moses’ KIN, Man Dance, Sins Invalid, Amara Tabor-Smith, Kim Epifano, Push Dance Company, Fly Away Productions, Joanna Haigood, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theater. He has performed throughout the Bay Area and the world including Cuba, Rome, and Paris. Hunter is a faculty member at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Shawl-Anderson, Youth in Arts and Dance-A-Vision. He is the founder of Iron Tri-Angel Urban Ballet in Richmond, was an instructor and rehearsal director for the Ross Dance Company, and dance captain for Expedia.com commercials. His awards include the 2011 National Dance Week Dancer's Choice Award, Margaret Jenkin's CHIME award, the 2009 VRS Award (the international organization on arts and disabilities), and the 2000 Bay Area Star Award. He has been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine and Dance Magazine, and is the former president of the Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate and Director-at-Large for the Northern California chapter of the California Association of the Deaf. He has been featured in Oakland North and is a representative for Purple Technologies, which sells deaf services and products. Mr. Hunter is an active supporter of DeafHope, an organization whose mission is to end domestic and sexual violence in deaf communities through empowerment, education, and services. He teaches dance and ASL in both hearing and deaf communities, and is the founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance Company, and has been producing the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival since 2013. His projects have been awarded funding by both CA$H Theater Bay Area and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

Deaf from birth, assistant director Zahna started her dance training with City Ballet School in San Francisco. She expanded her dance background when she was accepted to San Francisco School of the Arts (SOTA) by training with Elvia Marta in Modern, Jazz, African, Ballet, Hip Hop, and Choreography, as well as participating in Alonzo King’s LINES Pre-Professional Summer Programs. Upon graduating from SOTA in 2003, Zahna attended UCI to double major in Chemistry and Dance. At UCI she trained and performed in over 20 performances in various dance styles, working with fellow peers, graduate students, and distinguished faculty such as Lisa Naugle, David Allan, and Donald McKayle. In 2008, Zahna received a BS in Chemistry and a BFA in Dance performance and moved to San Diego to pursue her Chemistry career as a Senior Research Associate at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In San Diego, Zahna performed with the Mesa College Dance Company, CAC Repertory Dance Theatre (CACRDT), Bite Dance Company, Visionary Dance Theatre and in Jean Isaac’s Trolley Dances 2013. In August of 2014, she relocated to Bay Area and immediately jumped into ODC’s Next Moves intensive and the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival. 

Antoine and Zahna will be joined by two other deaf dancers from Isreal, who excel in modern dance, and recently joined the company four months ago. 

Urban Jazz Dance Company on Community:As a former Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate President and Northern California Association of Deaf Director, my company uses the artistic talents of our company members to educate audiences about what going on in the world; empowering the deaf community, advocating for deaf rights, and working to eliminate discrimination, prejudice, and more. We also use dance as an expression of healing after abuse.We host shows at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont and Riverside, California, and perform and offer workshops in London, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Africa, and all over USA. We also host an annual show at the Bay Area Deaf International Dance Festival in San Francisco, Ca.

urbanjazzdance.weebly.com