Video Transcript: Deaf dancer smashes stereotypes
VOICE OVER: I am 18 years old. I am a runner. I am a big sister. I am a daughter, granddaughter, a niece, a cousin.
I am stubborn, a fighter, a perfectionist. I am creative. I am a dancer and I am profoundly Deaf.
I was born Deaf and I am 4th generation. I only know what it is like to hear through my ears. What I hear is not what you hear. The only way I can truly hear you is to see you.
I have my own visual language. My own culture and it doesn't hold me back. It doesn't keep me from doing what I want to do.
It is not a disease. You can make fun of how I speak. you can make fun of how I can't hear. But you cannot take away what I love to do.
Dancing gives me life. I am just like you. I eat, breathe and sleep dance. The only difference between you and me is I depend on my eyes to learn. You depend on your ears.
I don't count 5, 6, 7, 8. I listen and feel the music a thousand times. I have it interpreted to me so that the dance matches to the words, beat and what I hear.
Dance can be defined as moving to music with rhythm and is considered as an art form. I define dance as inspiring, competitive, passion, and freedom.
I am blessed to have a dance family to keep me on beat and accept me for who I am, so that I can show you that Deaf can do anything.... Except hear!
