Deaf Awareness film aimed at dance practitioners

 
We also invited Amber Howells, Quiet Beats Dance Officer, Jones the Dance to lead a session to share her experiences and her approaches to leading dance sessions for children and young people who are deaf. 
 
Jones the Dance are relatively new partners in Wales Wide Training Programme so it was lovely to link up with them through this particular CPD day.
 
The focus of the CPD day was to share learning and knowledge in terms of deaf awareness and for dance practitioners to see both Mark and Amber's approaches to their work. Mark is deaf and an artist, teacher and choreographer, based in London. He is also the first deaf artist to choreograph in London's West End!  Amber is a hearing dance artist who works across Wales and is passionate about making her sessions inclusive to those who are deaf.  
 
Mark gave the dance practitioners a basic introduction to British Sign Language (BSL) and then developed some of the signs into dance and movement content which could be developed into choreography and transferable with a range of community groups.
 
The CPD day was attended by dance practitioners from mid, west and south Wales, plus one of the Quiet Beats young dancers from Jones the Dance, along with students from Cardiff Metropolitan University, who are also partners in Wales Wide Training Programme, BSL interpretation was provided by Cathryn McShane-Kouyaté for Amber's session. 
 
This short film demonstrates some of the practical learning and sharing that took place as part of the day.
 
Thank you for watching.