2022 May
For Deaf Awareness Week we take a look back at professional dancer, choreographer, and ISTD Patron Mark Smith’s interview from Issue #493 of Dance Magazine to learn all about why he created Deaf Men Dancing and how he got his start as a dancer.
Mark Smith is a dance teacher, workshop leader, movement director and choreographer. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of Deaf Men Dancing (DMD). We caught up with Mark over Google Meet, where he takes advantage of the software’s free function to turn on captions to view subtitles during a video call.
Mark knew there were deaf dancers all over the UK, but he had no idea who they were, or where to find them. Born out of a desire to bring deaf dancers together, Deaf Men Dancing was founded by Mark in 2010 and is the UK’s first collaboration of professional male dancers who are deaf.
A performance project rooted in community and partnership, Deaf Men Dancing often incorporates sign-language into their choreography and have developed a blend of dance styles to create their one-of-a-kind aesthetic.
It was through workshopping their unique blend of styles over the course of a week that proved the concept worked, and the group have since performed all around the UK and internationally at renowned venues including Sadler’s Wells, Dance East, and The Clin De'Oeil Deaf Arts Festival in France.
Credit: Paul Nicholas Dyke Click here to read the whole article