Videos of Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam 3

I received a website with videos of Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam 3 for you to see. The videos show deaf/hard of hearing and hearing poets/performers doing their stuff at Lovin' Cup on Januaray 22nd, 2011. The show turned out a success with good crowd. I would like to thank Paulette Swartzfager for video-taping and uploading them into the website.

Here is the website address, high-lighted, for you to click on and see the videos.

http://pswartz.blip.tv/posts?view=archive&nsfw=dc

Vicki Nordquist, Jeremy Quiorga, three NTID students (Edgar, Jojo, and Holly), Matt Schwartz, and myself - Eddie Swayze- performed American Sign Language poetry or performances. John Roche, Lori Nolasco, Paulette Swartzfager, Grace Flores and more hearing poets/performers read their work in English. Lastly, Luane Davis Haggerty presented an activity and encouraged many to do the hand-shape group participation.

Def Meets Deaf Poetry Jam 3 Flyer

I and John Roche, RIT Liberal Arts professor, are setting up another hearing and deaf/hard of hearing poetry/performing arts show at Lovin' Cup as our third year. I and John completed our search for the performers and they are listed on the flyer. I completed the flyer design and here it is for you to see. In order to read the performers' names, you will need to click on the image of the flyer and it will become bigger for you to read their names. This event will happen on January 22nd from 2 to 4:30 PM, free to the public.

The show will consist of hearing and deaf/hard of hearing poets/performers taking turns on stage, entertaining the audience the hearing world's English poetry/performance work and the deaf world's American Sign Language (ASL) poetry/performance work. There will be deaf/hard of hearing NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf) students, well-known local deaf/hard of hearing poets/performers, hearing RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) students, and well-known local hearing poets/performers. John Roche will read his work. I, Eddie Swayze, will perform his original composed electronic music/recorded poems in American Sign Language.

Come on down and see the show and spread the word.

Pictures of My "Joey" ASL Poetry Performance for World AIDS Day Benefit Concert

I got photos of my ASL poetry performance with the dancers for World AIDS Benefit Concert on December 1st, 2010. The performance took place at the Hochstein Music Performance Hall in Rochester, NY. The poem is titled "Joey". I played the electronic music I composed with my voice recorded. I translated my voice into ASL while the work was played. The dancers joined and danced around me. It was a lot of fun and it was also powerful.

You can read this poem, "Joey", to get an idea with what was being said.

“Joey”

My name is Joey -

Cute face and beautiful my skin.

Collecting money from the men is my bliss.

I wear tight jeans and t-shirts out on the streets,

Then I strip myself nude under the silky sheets.

My hair is a beauty and I’m young -

Green eyes and my body strong.

I’ve seen men come then go.

I’ve heard them flirt on the phones.

Oh god, life isn’t always kind.

Men having fun then dying.

Yet I see there are illness untold.

My soul will soon must go.

My name is Joey -

Grayed eyes and my body underweight.

Shed tears through heartache and pain.

I gradually turn ill in the shadow of grief,

Then I slowly close my eyes under the white sheets.

My name is Joey. Can you remember me?

My name is Joey. Can you pray for me?

Poem and Song for NTID's International Holiday Show

I will perform a song from PJ Harvey titled "You Came Through" in ASL and my ASL poem titled "Bright Red" for NTID's International Holiday Show this Friday, December 10th, at 1 PM in the Panara Theatre in bldg. 60 (LBJ). It's free to the public. Other performers will do their skits who are staff, students, or faculty, and will share the holiday spirit on stage.

Here is PJ Harvey's song that I will translate into ASL and my ASL "Bright Red" poem that I will perform.

"You Come Through" PJ Harvey

We are waiting


For the summer.

The sun will bring back


Treasures for us.

Come on my friend


Drink to good times.

Golden wishes


To your health and mine.

You come through


For me.

You come true


For me.

You be well


For me.

You come through


For me.

I'll be lifted


On this our holiday.

I'll take you my friend.

I'll take you with me.

You come through


For me.

You come true


For me.

You be well


For me.

You come through


For me.

"Bright Red" Eddie Swayze

Snow and cloud-ridden skies

Bathe us in calm soft light.

Welcome our dreams and wishes

Upon our holidays in delight.

Cheer along with glasses of wine

And our sweet serenades.

Hear violins ringing

Through chilled winds.

Glistening lights dance in pine trees.

Fancy presents wait below for children.

Flames radiate upon candles in gold.

Silver bells create sweet melodies.

We return upon our reunion

And celebrate in deep jubilance.

We come for peace and remembrance

For our precious traditions.

Love grows in our hearts warm

Where hollies

Glow their berries

Bright red.

"Peter and the Wolf" ASL Narration along William Warfield

In the spring of 2000, I performed an American Sign Language (ASL) narration along a well-known narrator/singer William Warfield. It was for his nephew Thomas Warfied's dance production titled 'The Adventure of Peter and the Wolf". I have a DVD of the whole production. I wanted to show my ASL narrating performance next to William Warfield but could not figure out how to get the clips off from a DVD into iMovie or anything. I figured out the solution. I found a free trial DVD ripper software for Mac OSX and downloaded that. It only allows me to rip 3 minutes of the DVD. It was what I wanted, just to show my performance, not the whole dance production. Once downloaded, I ripped 3 minutes of my performance and a few dancers' movements and it worked. I then dragged it and converted it into MP4 in iTune. Now I was able to use it for Facebook, my blog, and my promo/record.

Here is the video uploaded and enjoy my and William's narrations.

World AIDS Day Benefit Concert

Click on the flyer to see it much bigger.

I joined the committee of World AIDS Day Benefit Concert. I have been going to their meetings and helping them spread the word by posting flyers on Facebook, e-mails as attachments, and posting them on walls, looking for organizations to help donate or contribute, and etc.

Meanwhile, I and at least 2 or 3 other deaf or hard of hearing poets or storytellers will perform in ASL that relate to AIDS or HIV issues on December 1st at the Hochestein Performance Hall. Other performers such as dancers, singers, and speakers will present their skits as well. December 1st is an annual World AIDS Day.

Thomas Warfield, dancer/singer/educator, is leading this event. It is also World AIDS Day Benefit Concert's 10th anniversary.

If any of you are interested in purchasing the tickets or contributing to the event as volunteers or other activities, or donating tax-deductible, you can go to PeaceArt.org or send to WAD/PeaceArt, P.O. Box 40028, Rochester, NY 14604. The details are on the flyer, uploaded above, in this blog.

As time goes on, I will inform you who the deaf/hard of hearing poets/storytellers and other performers would be. This is an exciting and good cause performing arts, and I am looking forward to this unique event.

Two Poems Will Be Published in Canada

Two of my poems got accepted and will be published in an anthology of poetry on science based themes. Neil Harding McAlister, an editor, said, "We are pleased to advise you that we would like to print some of your work in the forthcoming collection, Science

Poetry

". This publication is in Port Perry, Ontario, Canada. It will be my very first paid poetry publication ever.

Here are my two poems that will be published in Canada.

Every Man For Himself

Ethereal lights sparkle our eyes into glass-like ecstasy.

Entranced into romance upon technological pride.

Every man, every man for himself.

Zoom head on up to the ultimate.

Majestic silver and gold cities glimmer diamond-like everywhere.

Sweet sugar-coated America juice up our veins.

Fast-paced automations dance in every corner like mechanical children from

neon-lit science fiction tales.

Every man, every man for himself.

Colorful heaven-like lights turn into rainbow halos above our heads.

Head in here and head out there, multiples of places for us to go in great speed

Like electrical currents zapping through circuits and wires.

Every man, every man for himself.

Feel the chilled minimalism, steel-laden, painted in acid-white from fluorescent lights.

Chill our hearts like cold rubber android lips.

Drink some cold liquid with neon-reflected ice cubes at technological-flavored nightclubs.

Bright candy-colored computer screens hug our bodies in empty cocoons.

Every man, every man for himself.

"New Ways"

New ways, new ways,

My mind is charged in wires.

I feel like an android, ready to hum into life.

Hear a strange white noise of a new refrigerator, a science fiction sound effect.

Sunlight beams down to the polished wood floor,

Miraculous light heading toward the future.

New ways, new ways,

My insights are turning into reality

Like holograms finally becoming possible.

See two new modern blue bar lights

Glowing above a new bar table,

A 21st Century blue-eyed child

Looking at the future.

New ways, new ways,

New Mac laptop stirs into life

With its radiating phosphorescent light,

Playing its electronic violin sweetly.

Walk through a new space of the place

Like exploring through the tunnel into the future.

New small magical electronic device

Beeps its ethereal sounds,

"Star Trek"-like gadget that kisses my digital hearing aids.

New fancy video-phone comes into life in my living room,

A journey through cybernetic landscapes.

New ways, new ways,

My mind is charged in wires.