The Apollo to Host Panel of Trailblazing Deaf Artists and Creators
WHAT:
On Tuesday, June 20 at 7pm EST The Apollo Theater will host “CHAMP: Deaf Artistsof Color Redefining the Performing Arts,” an in-depth discussion featuring the leadingDeaf and Hard-of-Hearing artists, creators, and musicians working in the performing artsspace today. The panelists come from all corners of the creative industry, spanning dance,theater, music, and film. Throughout the conversation, they will share their stories—theirsuccesses, their setbacks, and the steps they took to get to where they are today. Not onlywill this be an opportunity to connect and network with trailblazing artists, but also achance to celebrate all of their contributions and uplift an integral but often underacknowledged community.
Participants include Anton “DJ Hear No Evil” Abraham, whose DJ career has brokenbarriers within the music industry, and includes being named winner of the 2018 Spin-OffDJ Battle in Brooklyn; choreographer Fred Michael Beam, who co-founded, directed, andperformed with the acclaimed all-male Deaf dance troupe The Wild Zappers; Jade Bryan,the first Black Deaf woman filmmaker and founder of Deaf Talent Casting as well as the#DeafTalent®Movement; Tiffany “Traź” Freeman, an ASL poet, content creator,teacher, and advocate for the Black Deaf LGBTQ+ communities; Briana “Beautiful theArtist” Johnson, the first Black Deaf female rap artist and founder of the Signdance hiphop dance company; Zavier Sabió, who has worked in theater as a co-director of artisticsign language (DASL) and hosts Nuyorican Deaf Poetry Nights; and Jeremy Lee Stone,an actor and ASL consultant who worked on the set of the Oscar-winning film Sound ofMetal, as well as Creed III.
The panel will be sign-interpreted and designed to center the Deaf community andexperience; hearing audience members are welcome, but asked to be aware that this is anevent specifically catered to those who are Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing.
“CHAMP: Deaf Artists of Color Redefining the Performing Arts” is part of Apollo CareerPanels, presented by Apollo Education. The Career Panel series seeks to provide a behindthe-scenes look at lesser-known careers in arts and entertainment and shine a spotlight onpeople of color working in these creative industries.
WHEN:
Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 7:00 pm EST
WHERE:
Apollo’s Soundstage
TICKETS:
Free with RSVP. Register here.
Media must RSVP to press@apollotheater.org
About The Apollo
The Apollo is an American cultural treasure. It is a vibrant non-profit organization rooted in the Harlem community that engages people from around New York, the nation, and the world. Since 1934, The Apollo has celebrated, created, and presented work that centers Black artists and voices from across the African Diaspora. It has also been a catalyst for social and civic advocacy. Today, The Apollo is the largest performing arts institution committed to Black culture and creativity.
The Apollo is a commissioner and presenter; catalyst for new artists, audiences, and creative workforce; and partner in the projection of the African American narrative and its role in the development of American and global culture.
The Apollo envisions a new American canon centered on contributions to the performing arts by artists of the African diaspora, in America and beyond.
