Deaf dancer auditions for SYTYCD

[garden_hoe21]

I thought people here might get a kick out of how Nigel (the white male judge with an English accent) "talks to" the auditioner. (Bonus points for "so inspiring! So brave!")

Comments

[nafs]

Oh yay. Um, Nigel, you don't talk *to* the interpreter, that's incredibly rude. Although I did like the first judge's comments where she basically (among the "brave" and "inspiring" stuff) told him he needed to learn more and come back.

We had a b-boy with, spina bifida, maybe? - he used elbow crutches and didn't have full control of his legs, definitely couldn't support weight on them - audition for a season of SYTYCD Canada. The judges were definitely interested, (there were a lot of "inspiring" type comments as well, of course) he was a good dancer and they sent him to choreo to see if he could handle other styles, they ultimately didn't think he'd be able to handle partner work.

I never did figure out if I thought that was a fair judgement or not. He never indicated that he'd done any partner work, so that was definitely a strike against him. I find it hard to believe there couldn't be ways to use props and chairs and such that he could have the support to lift a partner within a routine where necessary, on the other hand if he'd never done any of that before, he and/or his partner could get seriously hurt in rehearsals while they were figuring out those adaptations.

[inoru_no_hoshi]

Okay so um. First, the judges were amazingly condescending. Amaaaazingly. The first one, the blonde lady? She wasn't so bad. The two guys? I literally felt my mouth drop open as I listened. I may have mouthed a few potent "Fuck you!"s, too.

Second, that's not my style of dance. But he's got astounding talent! You don't usually see someone following the bassline that closely, even a hearing person, so I grinned in delight. So happy he's found something he loves and didn't let not being able to hear stop him! :D (Also, the way he incorporated body language into the whole routine. Lovely!)

Third, I feel so sad that he feels so chuffed over it - and more that I know exactly why he would. Hearing people, sometimes you make me :( :( at you.

Deaf brofist, Jarrell. *brofists*

[ethereon]

Shouldn't the subtitles have a capital D on Deaf? Maybe that's not a worldwide convention but when they're talking about "deaf community" in a positive way like that I'd have thought it would be a capital. Then again I probably shouldn't be expecting that much from something like that.

[malnpudl]

Oh, Nigel. You fail so hard. /o\

[codeman38]

...Ironically, the very thing you're commenting on is inaccessible to deaf folks, since the video isn't captioned, and they keep cutting away from both Nigel (for lip-reading) and the sign interpreter (for ASL). (And as usual, YouTube's auto-captions are less than helpful.)

Draft transcript

[treeowl]

Transcription note: The following is somewhat incomplete, because I'm not sure exactly how many narrators there are, or who they are. Also, I'm no good at all at visual descriptions, so if someone wants to fill that gap, they are more than welcome to. I will use square brackets to indicate Jarrell's ASL signing, pretty much as indicated in the subtitles and/or interpreter's voicing. Note: during the dance scene, the three judges are sitting at a table, and I will describe them as "left judge", "middle judge", and "right judge". If someone knows their names, I will be happy to fill in the blanks.

Disembodied voice: Final soloist, Jarrell Robinson was hoping that his dancing would speak for itself. To speak with us, he'll be using an interpreter.

Jarrell: [I'm 25 years old, and I'm from Glenwood, Illinois, and I am deaf.]

Interviewer: Were you born deaf?

Jarrell: [I was born hearing, and became deaf.]
Interviewer: Why?

Transcriber's note: I seriously doubt the following interpretation is anything like a literal translation, but my ASL isn't nearly good enough to be sure, let alone to do better.
Jarrell: [Well, I was an infant and my mom has tried to explain to me that it just disappeared.]

Jarrell: [I started dancing to feel like I can feel music. I want to feel what music tastes like. Really the only way that I can hear the music is if you really turn up and turn the bass on. And you just dance with it, you follow the rhythm. I'm doing this for all the Deaf community. I want them all to know that deaf people can do anything. What thy really want if you put it in your mind, you can do anything, as long as you stay positive, and that's why I'm here, and it's amazing. ]

[ILY between Jarrell and interviewer]

Interviewer: You are so cool; so cool.

Right judge: Cue music!

{music starts; Jarrell starts dancing. Transcriber doesn't want to attempt to figure out the lyrics}

Left judge: How great is that?

Left judge grimaces.

Right judge: {holds up hand to stop} Thank you.

If you just come here then; he can keep his eye on you as I'm speaking.

Middle judge: Jarrell, extremely musical for someone that can't hear the music. I think because you can't hear the music, you have found a way to really be the music, which is outstanding. That being said, the vocabulary of your steps is just not strong enough, today, but I encourage you to continue training, inspiring, and being the brave person that you are for dealing with this, and overcoming it in so many ways.

Left judge: First and foremost, you are an incredibly special, inspiring, and deeply talented man, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. And I'll tell you what I found fascinating: you actually interpreted the song correctly; it was wonderful to watch.

Jarell: [thank you very much]

Right judge: How do you feel the music? Is it through vibrations?

Jarell: [I feel the music through the bass, and if I feel that one bass movement, I know that it's a double step. If it's four or five beats, then I know I have to follow however many progressions it's taken.]

Right judge: So many dancers need to have that ability.

Middle judge laughs.

Left judge: You have that more than most people we see!

Right judge: The world is at his feet, but I don't think the competition today is right for him. BUt there are lots of areas that if he is brave enough to push barriers, he can be exceptionally successful.

Judge: Thank you for wanting(?); thank you.

{applause}

Jarrell: [I feel inspired. I just hope that I learned everything I could remember of what the judges said. I just feel so alive; I feel so a part of this moment right now, I just gotta go.

Middle judge: It's just so inspiring(?)

Left judge: It's just so inspiring.