Antoine Hunter

Artworks

 

The Silence: American Sign Language Dance, 2020. Video (5:41 mins). Courtesy of the artist.

Celebrated Bay Area Deaf dancer Antoine Hunter collaborated with acclaimed theater director Ellen Sebastian Chang on the creation of Silence, a dance broken into three parts. His choreography incorporates movements from American Sign Language (ASL), jazz, and modern and classical American dance.

Against an urgent and rhythmic score of cello and violin, Hunter begins with raised arms under a single spotlight, in a gesture of calling in. He takes us on a deeply personal journey into the intensity of his experience. His movements throughout invite us to consider ASL as a form of dance, and dance as a non-verbal and gestural language.

About the Artist 

“I know for hearing people, my words remain silent, as if I come from another world. But through my dance, I think people can better understand my silent world. At the end, I want the audience to join together in signing, to signal we are all one spirit. I hope people leave feeling that we can all coexist and be part of each other’s lives in some meaningful way.” ―Antoine Hunter

Antoine Hunter/Purple Fire Crow is as an African, Indigenous, Deaf, Disabled, Two Spirit producer, choreographer, film/theater actor, dancer, dance instructor, model, poet, speaker, mentor, and Deaf advocate. He lives and works in Oakland, and amongst many other accomplishments runs the annual Bay Area Deaf Dance Festival and curated the Bay Area Deaf Arts exhibition at SOMArts in San Francisco in 2020.