What is Speaking Vibrations?
“Speaking Vibrations is a multidisciplinary devised performance made by four artists with an extensive range of skills and artistries. One thing that strikes me so distinctly about this piece is its generosity. The pace allows us to wade in slowly. The production functions like poetry rather than narrative; each line, each gesture, illuminating an idea and building to something greater. There is a show happening for a Deaf audience and there is a show happening for a hearing audience and they are the same show. This integration is unusual. It is a vision of a more equitable, beautiful and interrelated world. May this vision and interrelatedness inspire us all.” – Sarah Kitz, Artistic Director, Great Canadian Theatre Company (2022)
Speaking Vibrations is a unique, style-defying, multi and inter-disciplinary/lingual/cultural/sensory performance collective made up of Deaf and hearing artists.
We practice and perform in American Sign Language (ASL) and English, and in over 10+ genres such as ASL song/poetry, visual vernacular, signed music, media/video art, rap, spoken word, song, traditional Filipino dance, percussive and contemporary dance.
We use innovative technology, video/media art, stage and sound design to create accessible, inclusive and immersive performance experiences.
We are interested in blending and expanding access to different artforms and languages, and in multi-sensory (visual, audial, tactile) art and artmaking; how music is seen, how captions can dance, or how ASL can be felt.
Our mission: to promote and encourage collaboration across disciplines, between cultures, and among Deaf, non-Deaf, and disability communities; to broaden access and create spaces where diverse audiences can experience performance art together; and to inspire a vision of a more equitable world.
We are based out of Ottawa, Ontario the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg. Check out this Algonquin Anishinaabe Land Acknowledgement by Dr. Lynn Gehl, Ph.D., an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley.
To learn more about the people behind Speaking Vibrations, click here.
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Video Description: Various clips of Speaking Vibrations performance on tour at Halifax Fringe Festival and Ta Da! Performing Arts Festival (Wakefield, Quebec) in 2023-2024.
