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.

5 TIPS ON WITH WORKING WITH STUDENTS WHO ARE DEAF OR HAVE HEARING LOSS

Some of you asked where the written works that I've written for VSA..About working with Deaf people in classroom.

While I feel blessed to teach what I know- sometime having limit doesn't do justice on what I want to teach but I do hope that one will get something important rather than nothing.. Keep in mind i had to keep this under 300 words.. I really hope you all keep sharing your wisdom as I keep sharing mine. Please also share feedback if you want. 

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5 TIPS ON WITH WORKING WITH STUDENTS WHO ARE DEAF OR HAVE HEARING LOSS

By Mr. Antoine Hunter

The Deaf community exists in towns and in schools around the world. With a slowly increasing presence in popular media again (through television shows like Switched at Birth and actors like Marlee Matlin), this tight-knit community is currently receiving a bit more recognition. Here are five tips on working with Deaf students, which apply to school-age students and life-long learners!

1. You have to get my attention in order for us to communicate, right?
As a dance teacher, I know that just getting students’ attention can be a challenge sometimes. When working with a Deaf students or hearing lost students, you can first try calling their name; all levels of hearing are different and some have more than others. If that doesn’t work, and you are in the student’s line of vision, try waving. If all else fails, go to the student and LIGHTLY tap the person on the shoulder and wait. I’ll also ask my students, Deaf and hearing, to point at me, when I say pay attention and when that happens, it helps bring everyone’s attention to the center so we can begin.

2. Environment plays a big part in effective communication and comfort.
Are you in a well-lit classroom or are shadows running across your face and mouth? Is the room noisy or calm and quiet without lots of vibrations? Hearing aids help to amplify hearing, i.e. noise levels, which means ambient sounds are often increased to a confusing and uncomfortable level. Deaf can sometime find heavy background vibration distracting. Be sure your classroom and surroundings are peaceful.

3. Deaf students love music too!
People often ask me what music they should use in dance classes, and in 2010 I offered some suggestions in Dance Teacher Magazine. I suggest finding music that has a bit of something for everyone. For example, Miles Davis’ album Doo-Bop and James Brown’s "I Feel Good" both have heavy bass and high horn pitches happening at the same time. Explore all kinds of music and find something for everyone to enjoy. Be aware that musical vibration is easier to feel when holding still, so play a musical rhythm first and then get everyone moving, Or play that music SUPER LOUD! 

4. There are many ways to communicate.
If you understand sign language and can sign with a student who is Deaf, that’s great! But there are other forms of communication; find out what works best for the student in that situation. Some prefer writing things down, and others can read lips and prefer you to speak clearly as you normally would. Your body language and respect are most important when communicating with a Deaf student. Turn your body to face the students so they can see your lips move, and don’t put your head down. If something is happening or is said elsewhere, let the student know.

Oakland, California-based dancer Antoine Hunter is founder and director of Urban Jazz Dance Company and the Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival in California. He teaches ballet, hip hop, modern, jazz, African, and creative dance to students of all ages at 10 different schools and performing arts centers in California’s Bay Area and serves as Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate President

Flowing breath of a Black Man in tears!

Hey everyone,

I decided to bring you with me or share the experience with you all. I'm excited and getting ready for a show working with Joanna Haigood of Zaccho dance theatre. 

Zaccho Dance Theatre (ZDT) creates and presents performance work that investigates dance as it relates to place. Artistic Director Joanna Haigood's creative work focuses on making dances that use natural, architectural and cultural environments as points of departure for movement exploration and narrative. Haigood's innovative work involves in-depth research into the history and the character of sites, often involving local communities in the creative process, and typically integrates aerial flight and suspension as ways of expanding performers' spatial and dynamic range. In addition, Zaccho provides performances in San Francisco, nationally and internationally as well as an arts education program for the local community.  

Artistic Director Joanna Haigood relocated to San Francisco from New York in 1979 and co-founded Zaccho Dance Theatre in 1980. Zaccho is one of a handful of dance companies in this country focused on site-specific dance. Joanna Haigood's work has been commissioned by leading arts presenters both nationally and internationally. Among them are the National Black Arts Festival, Festival d'Avignon and Festival d'Arles in France, the Exploratorium, Capp Street Project, Dancing in the Streets, the Walker Art Center, Jacob's Pillow, the San Francisco Art Commission, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, and the McColl Center for Visual Art. Her choreography has also been commissioned by Alonzo King's Lines Contemporary Ballet, Robert Moses' Kin and Axis Dance Company and is in the repertory of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.

Pretty cool huh!??? I love working with her. 

I've done a few work such as "Sail Way!", "negro baseball league", "Dying while black and brown". 

I will be focusing on two shows events with Zaccho dance theater. One will be for Black Choreographer Festival (Feb) and  Zaccho Dance theatre (April). 

The dance will be focusing on "Dying while black and brown". 

Joanna Haigood created a new work inspired by the Equal Justice Society's campaign to restore 14th Amendment protections for victims of discrimination including those on death row. (African American Men on Death row!)

I guess you can see why I want to bring you on this journey with me. Not only this dance had challenge me physically but also mentally and spiritually. Joanna had me in a place where I had to continually questions myself "who am I" in advance level!  

Day 1...(2.10.2014)

I performed this before at UCSF with the same crew/cast. Matthew Wickett, Rashad Pridgen, Travis Rowland. These brothers are one of Bay Area finest dances artist! We're back! I love these, we push each to next level of dance!

Unlike before we had time to develop ...  Who are we, movement, language. Research real life prison, prison guard, gas chair, fight, smell, sounds and everything that come with or down to Death Row. Physical dance, climb, muscle train, team trust , self trust, cues, jumps, rolls and much more to develope for the dance. 

Sometime to be professional it mean get the job done in short amount of time and make it work.

Warmed up, went over ours parts, went over lines. Let go from the top! On top of 8 feet house shaped pole props. Pole house grams! No rope for net for safety. Honestly thanks God they have 2 inches mat! 

We sit be who we are..(Start)..Guys started yelling. I wonder what they are saying but response as they are angry lost prisoner! " hey hey hey, come here, kiss it up! Come come come here! Sucker, hey Hey bob!! Whhaaaaaaaaaa!" Banging on the poles made house frame! It's shake, we jumps ! We rolls. We yelled. We fight. 

20 mins had passed!

I climbing up! They pulled me! Oh no! It's time! What going on, come on I know what's going on!

I'm Charles Rector #721. 

There I saw it, in the room BEHILD the glasses walls. I saw my real life baby sisters and I saw those family watching me. I said my lines , my final statement ..

ANTOINE , WHEN YOU DO THIS SOLO I WANT THE BREATH TO BECOME THE SHAPE, THE MOVEMENT, ALLOW IT ENVOLVE IT. FLOWING. - Joanna Haigood! 

Wait did she say flowing or rowing?? Both is not the same thing but yet fit for the same thing! What do you expect.. I'm Deaf, I have hard time knowing what said but I'm a good guesser. Assuming she said flowing.. Flowing is what I'll do!  Flow like water! It a good thing my birth sign is a water sign. Don't that sound like Mr. Bruce Lee in a way. Ms Haigood remind me of Me Bruce lee's quote. 

"You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend."

Bruce Lee

( Standing Down Stage Center-Solo)

I saw my child , I saw my little girl, I saw the day she was born, how the mother was in tears.. The tears that I could never forget! "Flow with the baby" I told her and she smile with full trust and ok! As I pray flow with our gifts, to flow with love , flow with our miracle, flow with God! 

I stood there on stage allowing the breaths of memories to flow in me. Letting it, the breath take shape to my body without forcing anything.. Such feeling began to pull me deeper into my spirit, the breath goes louder, longer, faster, as it fight to continue to breathe. I began to shake! I'm getting tired! Unstoppable shake, I look up I saw that I didn't not want to stop breathing for my little girl !

I felt all black men standing in the room watching me as their own life is watch through me. Some were tall, strong , old young, gay & str8, skinny , bald, and one said to me " I was only 22, I and my girlfriend made love for the very 1st time and it was in the basement..her uncle and father caught us. Force her to say she was raped. That's I rape a white girl! I was 36 when I die. The only thing kept me going was that I heard I had little girl. Never saw her. Share my story too! Brother!" 

He touched my shoulder! I was breathing then went black I felt such pain in my stomach! I said to that spirit tearfully "..brother, I'm trying, for all of you...thank you.." He let go of me. 

Then I saw Ms Joanna Haigood, in my face rubbing my shoulder asking if I was ok.. " Yeah, what happen is my thought" .. I would say something but I was still crying not only that I was on my knee on the mat! (How did I get there?) dang ! I know what happen.. Wow, the show must go on. My part was done. I was dead. The other 3 dancers continue their story. 

(Dance over)

Me: I'm crying like a bi$&h..

Travis: no, you're crying like a human being!

(Rehearsal over.)

Long day of teaching and lead meeting plus more. Finally in bed. I pray. "...thank you for protecting me and my family from seen and unseen things.. Thank you for the wonderful blessing flowing in my life... Please continue those blessing as I continue to praise you. Bless those spirits that came to me today for their tears flow with my....".(private conversation with God)..."Good night and amen." 

Wow...

May the Spirit of Dance flowing into you!

Wink!

Antoine hunter 

Feb 27, 2014

(Psalm 46:1) 

Thank you for reading