DJ-ASL Poetry Performance at Lovin' Cup

On Saturday, February 28th, 2015, I performed as DJ WildPoet at Lovin' Cup in Henrietta, NY (Rochester). It was for the 7th year of Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam, which enables deaf/hard of hearing and hearing poets/performers take turns on stage throughout the event. The unique approach of the performances, using American Sign Language and English, the deaf and hearing worlds together, appears to become popular. The audience was jammed. Great poets and performers such as Vicki Norquist, John Roche, Eric Epstein, Dangerous Signs (ASL performance group), Lori Nolesco, and more plus few more joined during the open mic at the end of the event. 

As regards to my performance, I DJed the music during the warm-up when the audience came in from 2 PM to 2:30 PM - mostly playing famous musicians like Blondie, Daft Punk, and etc. Afterwards, when Dangerous Signs were called, I jumped in and performed my original electronic music/poem titled "Blade Grey Sky" through my DJ device, but there were no sound manipulations or tricks, just regular playing. The group acted and did physical movements while I translated the words along the tune. 

Here is a photo of myself and Dangerous Signs during "Blade Grey Sky" performance.

When I was up to perform by myself, I translated my original poems titled "Rebellion" and "Where's Molly?" into ASL and manipulated the sound effects with my DJ device. Lastly, I translated Bjork's "Pluto" song into ASL and did the DJ sound effects. To my surprise, the DJ device or my laptop, somehow, messed up the playing and I had to stop. I informed the audience that I will return to do that song when it gets fixed. Later, I returned with a solution and was able to perform the whole Bjork "Pluto" song successfully. 

Here is a YouTube video of my DJ-ASL performance of two poems "Rebellion" and "Where's Molly?":

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC--8Y0Cb1tGGhm1Nj2ewPHQ

All in all, the president of Just Poet, came over to me and asked for my contact information. I gave him my DJ WildPoet business card and he gave me his business card. He is interested in contacting me for future performance. This is a good networking opportunity. 

I shall thank Lovin' Cup for providing the space for the show and John Roche for collaborating with me. I also shall thank Miriam Lerner and the interpreting students for interpreting the hearing and deaf/hard of hearing performers' work throughout the show. Lastly, I shall thank the hearing and deaf/hard of hearing performers for taking their time to show their creative work. 

DJ at German House for Rochester Community Players 90th Anniversary Celebation

On January 19th, I was hired to DJ for Rochester Community Players' 90th Anniversary Celebration at the German House. Here are the experiences I got when DJ-ing there. 

They were going to show a silent movie that was made in 1927 by the Rochester Community Players members 90 years ago. I DJ-ed before and after the movie. Yet, the president of Rochester Community Players didn't say what kind of music I should play and I had no idea what some of the audience's reactions were going to be. It turned out that some of them did not like the kind of music I was playing (some due to older generations and some due to expecting jazz, swing, and big bands - 1920's- music), which I had to tell them that I did not have with me. I had only modern electronic music and current famous musicians' work.It was intriguing and a mixed bag kind of performance for me. Yet, yes, there were many that admired my work, who comprehended the kind of 21st Century modern kind of DJ-ing that is happening lately, which is where my work is heading into. 

Here are two photos of me DJ-ing at the event.

Also, my Serato Intro software that goes along with my Numark Pro 2 DJ device crashed about 4 times and I had to quickly get my DJ-ing back on. I have no idea why and I just e-mailed to Serato Intro company Support Team to explain the situation and hopefully I will find out what I need to do to solve the problem soon.

All in all, regardless of having a cold, I had fun with good snacks and a cake. Did some American Sign Language performances along the lyrics that came on during my DJ-ing besides just regular instrumental DJ-ing. There was a good number of deaf/hard of hearing audience that showed up. Many of them are my friends from Dangerous Signs and other theatrical productions I was involved with. Some of them came up and danced in front of me. 

I would like to thank Peter Scribner for hiring me and the whole Rochester Community Players for giving me the opportunity.

DJ Performance for Soiree in the Penguin Ballroom

On January 8th, 2015, I will be DJ-ing as DJ WildPoet for Riley Beats' Soiree in the Penguin Ballroom. It's located on 389 Gregory Street in the city of Rochester. Two other DJs will do their tunes after my show. My show will start at 7 PM. It's a free public event with suggested donations and low-priced pizzas, sodas/bottles of water, and glowsticks. People who show up usually play with their hoops or spin the LED lights around during the DJ events there. The Penguin Ballroom is a large, spacious room and it is really beautiful. See the photo to get an idea. I suggest to click on this photo to see it bigger.

As DJ WildPoet, I will play my own original composed electronic music. I will also play several well-known musicians' work. I will play well-known musician's work along my own work, synced, together. I will also sync two famous musician's work or two of my own work simultaneously. When the words or lyrics come up, I will translate them into American Sign Language (ASL) plus do the acting/facial/physical moves. When there are no words or lyrics in the tunes, I will just DJ and do the creative sound tricks or manipulations. 

Henceforth, my DJ performance may be different than most of the DJs since hardly any knows how to translate the words/lyrics into ASL and do the acting/physical/facial performances. I have been trained to act in theaters for a while plus an ASL poet and a performing artist for a long time. My hope is to inspire the audience to appreciate the unique DJ performance I can offer and spread the word to others, which could enhance my chance to DJ more out to the public. I would like to thank Riley Beats for offering me an opportunity to DJ for his Soiree DJ events at the Penguin Ballroom.

DJ Performances in January 2015

I am psyched to DJ as DJ WildPoet next year in the year 2015 during the month of January. I was requested by a well-respected DJ named Riley Beats to do the skits for his every Thursday DJ shows titled Soiree. I will DJ there at 7 PM on January 8th. It is located in the Penguin Ballroom on 389 Gregory St. in Rochester, NY. The Soiree DJ events are free but encourages suggested donations plus pizzas, soft drinks/bottles of water, and glow sticks for sale (to support the cost of the space). Several people play hoops there besides just dancing. It's a fun place to hang out and really friendly atmosphere. I will play my own original composed electronic music plus some famous musicians' work, back and forth, or both together (synched tracks). I will translate some of the words in the music into ASL (American Sign Language) as well. Here is a picture of a real nice ballroom that I will perform in.

On January 19th, I will DJ for The Rochester Community Players (Shakespeare plays) at the German House on 315 Gregory St, only a block from where Soiree DJ events takes place. The president of the Rochester Community Players, Peter Scribner, requested me to do the skits for their 90th Anniversary.

Here is a photo of the film that the Rochester Community Players will show, which means I will do the DJ during the warm-up as audience comes in and then do more after the movie ends.

Here is a detailed information about the 90th Anniversary below:

90th Anniversary Celebration!

90TH ANNIVERSARY OF RCP’S FIRST PRODUCTION JANUARY 19, 2015 AT THE GERMAN HOUSE: We’re going back home: on Monday, January 19, 1925, an ambitious group of community theater enthusiasts presented the first performance of the Rochester Community Players, Wedding Bells, on the stage of the United German Societies of Rochester. We return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, with a celebration Monday, January 19, 2015 at the historic German House, 315 Gregory Street. 

FEATURED PROGRAM: We will be screening 'our movie', the 1927 silent motion picture created by the Rochester Community Players, Fly Low Jack and the Game. This 30 minute film was seen by 750,000 people in 1927-28, as Eastman Kodak Company showed it all around the country, as an example of amateurs creating their own 'photoplay'. Mike Champlain of DeBergerac Productions has carefully restored the original footage, shown recently at the High Falls Film Festival, and will show the movie at our celebration on January 19 (the title card for the film, shown above, is courtesy of DeBergerac Productions).

Cost: $20, and half price for anyone under 30. If you are an RCP veteran, we would love to talk with you! Call Peter Scribner at 585-261-6461, or email him at scribnerpeter (at) gmail (dot) com.

ASL Poetry Show at Equal Grounds

On November 8th, Dangerous Signs (ASL poetry, songs, mime, and acting performance group), Eric Epstein (ASL poet), and myself as DJ WildPoet all performed at Equal Grounds. There was a fundraising effort toward Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW), which two DDW board members showed up to explain what DDW do and collected the donations from the audience. 

Here are photos for you to see. You can click on them in order to see them bigger.

DJ WildPoet 

DJ WildPoet

Eric Epstein

Dangerous Signs

Here is a YouTube link of my DJ-ASL performances for you to watch below (though the vid isn't in a good high quality unfortunately). Click right on it to see my performance of "Rebellion" (my work) and Bjork's "Pluto" song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOYxX0DaDho

Dangerous Signs did several great skits such as "Superstitious" by Stevie Wonder, "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson, several poems by Langston Hughes, and few more. Eric Epstein did several of his original beautifully done ASL poems. I as DJ WildPoet played three original electronic music through Numark Pro 2 DJ device. When words come up during the DJ-ing, I translated them into ASL. The very last was Bjork's "Pluto" song, the only work that wasn't my own piece. I manipulated her music on my DJ and when she sang the words, I translated the lyric into ASL. Two great voicers helped the audience understand the ASL language that the performers were using. They were Cindy Gilchrist and Luane Davis Haggerty. I shall thank these two women. I shall thank John White and Randy Torgerson for giving me the opportunity to use their stage at Equal Grounds. 

Hamlet's Ghost Father and DJ at MuCCC "Zombie Shakespeare"

On October 31st and November 1st, I acted as Hamlet's ghost father, translated into ASL (American Sign Language), along a person who spoke the script. I painted my face white and smeared black around my eyes plus a real beaver fur tall hat from my great uncle (real and not joking) and a black suede suit. The work with James Landers (voicer) was great and we did very well on stage together.

I also was a DJ as DJ WildPoet there during the time when audiences came in (warm-up) and after the performances ended (closing-hour). The DJ-ing was a nervous thing for me, because I have never done this to only hearing people. The very first DJ I did was at NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf), where predomiantly deaf and heard of hearing were the audience and, yes, there were hearing people there as well. Yet, NTID was just a little bit of save haven for me as a new DJ performer. Now, at MuCCC, only people outside of NTID and not familiar with deaf culture or anything were there. I was indeed surprised that many appraised my DJ work. One hearing cast member in the production happily proclaimed my name "DJ WildPoet!!" and gave me a two hands high-five. Other cast members gave me their thumbs up when I stopped DJ-ing to get ready to perform as Hamlet's ghost father. So, I realize it did work well more than I expected. I video-taped myself doing the DJ-ing there and that one video got 105 people who saw it on my DJ WildPoet Facebook page.

Here are a photo of my DJ Numark Pro 2, laptop, and my great uncle's beaver hat.

Here are 2 photos of me as Hamlet's ghost father.

DJ and "Hamlet" Acting for Zombie Shakespeare! and DJ/ASL Poetry at Equal Grounds

On October 31st, I will be DJ-ing during warm-up and intermission for MuCCC (Multi-Use Community Cultural Center) on October 31st. It will be a halloween-themed show titled "Zombie Shakespeare!".

Here is the hypertext for you to click on to get the details and get the tickets:

http://muccc.org/events/?p=15347

Besides DJ-ing, I will act as Hamlet's ghost father by translating the script into ASL (American Sign Language) and a person will speak the lines in English simultaneously.


On November 8th, I as DJ WildPoet, Eric Epstein, and Dangerous Signs will perform ASL poetry, stories, and songs at Equal Grounds. This show will start at 7:30 PM and it will be a fundraising effort to support DDW (Discovering Deaf Worlds), a non-profit organization, that seeks for deaf/hard of hearing people in other countries for better education, quality of life, empowerments, and cultural preservation.

Here is a flyer and you can click on the image to see it bigger.