JUNE 7, 1996 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
13
COMMUNITY GROUPS
Interpreters use artistry to put concert into sign language
by Roger Durbin
There is a certain delight in deciding to write an article about a topic you think you know something about, and then finding out so much more than anticipated. That's what happened to me after Timothy Robson, the North Coast Men's Chorus' music director, suggested a focus on sign language interpretation for the deaf people who come to Cho-
rus concerts.
In interviews with Doug Braun, our main interpreter, and John Dellamanna, the stalwart back-up person (who is at this moment languishing in his new job in the northern Marianas Islands in the mid-Pacific), I discovered a great deal more than supposed.
When asked whether they translate word for word when presenting the lyrics to our music, Braun said that this isn't exactly an easy question to answer. He does "translate" the lyrics in the sense that American Sign Language has its own rules of grammar and syntax that don't necessarily match English language structure. Braun tries as much as possible to put his interpretation of the song into ASL.
Deaf people can be "bi-lingual," as it were. Probably ten percent have ASL as their first language because they have deaf parents. However, people who know some signing, and some deaf people who were raised and have been around hearing people, actually speak in what probably can be called "English language signing," that is, they create signs or spelling that follow English word order. Others have learned ASL, although they have been reared in an environment where English-language signing predominated.
Braun says that his principal aim is to convey the meaning and the intent of each piece. Some pieces are more difficult than
others, for example, those in another language. In the song "Esperanto," the chorus sings basically the same idea in five languages. In such cases, Braun gets a translation, since each language has its own idiom, its own "way" of saying what we may think of as the same thing. So Braun finds different ways of conveying the meaning, an imagistic equivalent of different languages.
Other problems are more formidable, like finding a way to make "Zippity Doo Dah" make sense, or worse, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," or however that Mary Poppins word is spelled. Braun goes for some emotional undercurrent, like "great nonsensical fun," when this sort of thing happens.
Both Braun and Dellamanna agree that much is conveyed through facial expression. Dellamanna notes that the sign for grief, for example, looks like one is wringing out a mop, with both hands over the heart. If you couple this powerful sign with an appropriate facial "look" or regard, the meaning becomes much more exact. With "the look," he says, it may mean grieving for one's recently deceased mother. Without "the look," one may be mentioning that there is a new grief support group at a local hospital.
Braun says that an interpreter can be expansive for the big emotions or all-inclusive musical ideas. Or little ("demure," to quote Braun) with small, close-to-the-body gestures for more particular sorts of feelings. One need but watch our interpreters swaying to the music and concocting all manner of gyrations in mid-air to get a sense of this.
As Dellamanna puts it, "I go slowly and sign more slowly if the chorus is singing slowly. If the chorus is singing softly, you will see me draw back, the interpretations may come from the center of my chest more, they may be smaller, and you may occasion-
ally see the typical librarian's 'Shhh!' gesture to the lips with the index finger."
[We'll forget that music director Robson and I are both librarians, and have never gone "Shhh" in our professional lives, thankyouverymuch; but then Dellamanna knows that neither Tim nor I are "typical" anythings.]
An interpreter attracts attention, certainly. Braun does. So does Dellamanna. They're supposed to. But they do much besides. For the most part, the chorus does not move. The interpreter's movement brings another and rich-rhythmic and lyrical dimension to the music of the cho-
rus.
"Sign language interpretation is an important aspect of our outreach and communication with the gay, lesbian and bisexual community in northeast Ohio," says Robson. "But it also gives us an additional element of artistry to have such talented and musical interpreters as Doug and John. I feel confident that they are communicating to our audience the essence of what we are doing musically."
Doug Braun
How did these two get started? Braun says that he took first some courses and then a full ASL program at Cleveland State University. Later, as an original Chorus member, he volunteered to interpret for the Chorus if anyone were needed. He has been interpreting since the Chorus's first appearance in 1989. The only two performances he missed were the Jerry's Boys revue, and the musical comedy Puttin' on the Ritz.
Dellamanna got his start doing a research project in school. He became so interested that he volunteered for two years as a teaching assistant. Dellamanna had a roommate,
an MS from Gallaudet University, who taught him advanced ways of interpretation. When Dellamanna joined the chorus in 1990, Braun helped him in the transition from conversational or communications-oriented signing to dramatic and artistic interpretation.
A final question had to do with what the chorus could do or provide to facilitate enjoyment of the concerts. Both Braun and Dellamanna say that lighting is important. Deaf people need to see a person's face. So an interpreter needs to have a prominent place with good lighting, and deaf people need to have seats where they can see. Braun generally has an idea of who is coming to a chorus concert, and holds seats for them.
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