Everyone knows that April 1 is April Fool’s Day; a day that is great for everyone to fool their friends or loved ones by creating foolish pranks. Instead of celebrating April Fool’s by creating foolish pranks please come join the Deaf Jammers on Wednesday, April 1, 2015, for the fourth annual event Deaf Jam IV: Through The Decades. The event will be held in Wilkins Theater from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and will feature Kean University students performing a variety of acts such as musical acts, dance acts, and much more.
“Deaf Jam will have a montage of interpretive songs, poems, singers bands, and dancers,” comments the advisor of Deaf Jammars, Dr. Carol Goodman, “all of the performers will be students of different departments,” and 50 of the performers that will be attending will be students performing each act in American Sign Language [ASL].
Deaf Jams first started in 2011 when a group of about 15 students gathered together to perform songs, poems, and stories in ASL. The first Deaf Jam was held in the lounge area of East Campus. As said by Dr. Goodman, “Staged in Wilkins Theater, this year’s performances promises to be bigger and better than ever before.”
Deaf Jam IV: Through the Decades will highlight historical events that has happened between the years of the 1920s and 2015. “From the early days of silent films through the racial tensions of the ‘60s and the insightful artist of the millennium,” says Dr. Goodman about what will happen during the event, “the storyline guides the audience through not only the musical transitions [which highlights each era], but includes original poetry [written by students], dance performances by the Kean University Dance Ensemble [KUDE], musical accompaniment by the Jazz Troupe from the Kean University music department and some natural singers and signers, the youngest of whom is eight.”
One of the performers is sophomore communication major Karina Santiago. Santiago, who also minors in ASL, will be signing two popular songs, one from the decade of 2000s and the other from the decade of 1980. She believes that “it is important for students to attend Deaf Jam so they can get a feel of what deaf culture can be like. In addition, maybe [with this event] students will be interested in learning [ASL].” Co-President Dana Bartone, a senior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences, couldn’t agree more. She comments on how Deaf Jams is meant to impact people in many ways, as well as help those who can hear, learn more about ASL and how deaf people can communicate.
“The main focus of this event is the deaf people,” comments Jessica Pascalli, the co-president of Deaf Jammers, and a senior majoring in speech language and hearing sciences, “so they can understand how life was like during those decades.” With the sign interpreters those who are unable to hear will be able to get a sense of what each decade was like. Some of the music that will be presented at the event are songs sung by Celine Dion, Beyoncé, and Shakira.
“We except you will probably laugh a little, perhaps you’ll be touched a bit and we think you will just enjoy the reflection back through time no matter how old you are,” says Dr. Goodman. So make sure to buy a ticket before the show is sold out. Tickets are five dollars at the Wilkins Theatre ticket booth and online with a two dollar surcharge added at the conclusion of a purchase.
For more information about this event please contact Deaf Jammers atdeafjam@kean.edu, or visit the organization page of Deaf Jammers on CougarLink. To purchase tickets online please visit:http://bit.ly/1zR4dEj.
