Urban Jazz Dance 13TH ANNUAL BAY AREA INTERNATIONAL DEAF DANCE FESTIVAL Returns In August

Urban Jazz Dance Company has announced the 13th Annual Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival (BAIDDF), featuring performances and workshops highlighting the artistry and important contributions of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) artists from around the world, such as CDK's Deaf Dance Beyond Collective from Jamaica, Corporación Cultural y Artística Sin Límites from Colombia, The Wild Zappers from New York and San Francisco's Urban Jazz Dance Company, among others.

BAIDDF primarily features dance as well as theater, poetry and live music, along with a diversity of Sign Languages including, but not limited to, American Sign Language (ASL), International Sign Language, Colombian Sign Language, and Jamaican Sign Language. ASL interpretation and English voicing will be offered for all performances and special events.

Performances are Friday, August 8 and Saturday, August 9 at 7:30pm and Sunday, August 10 at 3pm at Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco.  Tickets go on sale June 3 and are $15-$40. For tickets and information: https://www.realurbanjazzdance.com 

Founded in 2013 by Urban Jazz Dance Company Artistic Director Antoine Hunter, the mission of BAIDDF is to showcase international Deaf artists while providing intersectional access both for them and to their work through a variety of services.  

“For many Deaf and HoH artists, the BAIDFF is their first experience being produced by a Deaf-led organization,” explains Hunter. “We have about a dozen sign interpreters working with us this year, signing all of our shows, special events and as well as our technical and dress rehearsals. Many theaters don't provide this kind of access during production which means that often Deaf artists aren't able to adequately communicate how they want their work to be presented.”

To increase access for audiences, BAIDFF installs beneath the theater seats what's known as a “butt kicker,” a device connected to the sound system enabling viewers to feel the beat of the music. BAIDFF also provides audio descriptions for Blind and Low-Vision audiences.

“BAIDFF is a multi-cultural festival of sophisticated International Artists whose work is both personal and universal,” adds Hunter. “Through the Festival we come together to connect, share our history, communicate and understand each other. It's deeply layered, bonding and healing.”

SCHEDULED TO PERFORM (subject to change):

Urban Jazz Dance Company (San Francisco, CA) will premiere an excerpt of a new piece addressing the lack of access to education for Deaf, BIPOC, and disabled children. Inspired by real stories from parents, educators, lawyers, and others, the work highlights a systemic issue that impacts so many. UJDC will premiere the full length work in Fall 2025.

CDK's Deaf Dance Beyond Collective  (Kingston, Jamaica) performs a blend of Jamaican, Afro-Caribbean and contemporary expression to amplify Deaf storytelling. 

Felipe Rodriguez and Corporación Cultural y Artística Sin Límites, (Bogotá, Colombia) will present a performance in two parts: a traditional plains dance derived from peasant festivals, and a presentation of joropo, a more robust and elaborate form with colorful costumes.

Bianca Ware will perform a raw and personal solo intended to inspire, confront the viewer's internal landscape and remind them of their divinity within.

Sabina England (St. Louis, Missouri) will perform a joyous, family-friendly dance inspired by burlesque comedy and Bollywood.

Deaf Music Ensemble (New York, NY) will spread the love of music through sign language and dance.

The Wild Zappers (Rochester, New York) the all deaf all male dance group that combines American Sign Language, music and dance to promote the education of sign language to both Deaf and hearing communities, gives a come back performance with actor, dancer, poet, Director of American Sign Language Fred Michael Beam.

Visceral Roots Dance Company (Oakland, CA), co-directed by Noah James III and Ashley Gayle, performs one of their signature multifaceted dances.

Dancer and mixed media artist Jon Kastrup (Palm Springs, CA) debuts with the Festival in a world premiere combining his visual artwork with choreography by UJDC's Hunter.

Juliana Frick (Oakland, CA) and Anna Gichan (San Francisco, CA) will perform an improvised duet grounded in their shared love of contact improvisation and acrobatics.

SPECIAL EVENTS

In addition to performances, BAIDDF features workshops in jazz dance, hip-hop, ballet, ASL Dance, and more, 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 at Dance Mission Theater and CounterPulse in San Francisco and Shawl Anderson Dance Center in the East Bay.  More information at https://www.realurbanjazzdance.com.

SPECIAL EVENTS SCHEDULE:

Deaf Dance Workshop

Tuesday August 5 at 6 pm

Shawl Anderson Dance Center, Berkeley

Museum Engagement

Thursday August 7, at 6-10pm

BAIDDF Performance/Workshop at 7:30-9pm

California Academy of Sciences, SF

Workshops taught by Deaf Artists

Friday August 8 at 10am and 11:15am

CounterPulse, SF

BAIDDF Meet the Artists Panel

Saturday August 9 at 12-2pm

San Francisco Disability Cultural Center, SF

Youth Dance Workshops (ages 4-12)

Sunday August 10 at 12-1 pm

Dance Mission Theater, SF 

ASL Dance and Choreography 

(ABC Dance Choreography) 

with Fred Beam

Sunday August 10 at 10-11:30am

Shawl Anderson, Berkeley

ABOUT URBAN JAZZ DANCE COMPANY 

Founded in 2007 by pioneering Deaf dancer/choreographer Antoine Hunter aka PurpleFireCrow, Urban Jazz Dance Company consists of a mix of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers. UJDC's mission is to provide opportunities for Deaf and Disabled artists to contribute to the arts and 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. 

UJDC performs all over the Bay Area and beyond, including at festivals, such as at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Black Choreographers Festival, CubaCaribe Festival, Art and Soul Festival, DeafNation, DisneyLand Disney's Signin' in the Street, Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Green Show, and the Ethnic Dance Festival. UJDC produces the annual Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival and views Deafness as a human experience with its own values, principles, and cultural norms – not a disability. 

Hunter, an Oakland native, is an award-winning internationally known Black, Indigenous, Deaf, Disabled, choreographer, dancer, actor, instructor, speaker, producer and Deaf advocate. He  creates opportunities for Disabled, Deaf and hearing artists, produces Deaf-friendly events, and founded the Urban Jazz Dance Company in 2007 and Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival in 2013. Awards include the 2023 Dance Magazine Award, 2022 Disability Futures Fellowship, 2021 Dance Teacher Award, 2019 Disability Changemaker, 2019 National Dance/USA fellowship recognized by the Mayor of Oakland, 2018 inaugural Jeanette Lomujo Bremond Humanity Arts Award and 2017 Isadora Duncan (Izzie) for BAIDDF.  Hunter curated 2021 Bay Area Deaf Arts at SOMArts, is a 2021 YBCA 100 honoree, is on the Production Team of Signing Animation actively working on inclusive films and serves on the boards of Dance/USA, BABDA, Museum of Dance and councils for CalArts Alumnx and Intrinsic Arts.