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www.hearingtimes.co.uk September 2010 9

Born Deaf, Mark perfectly demonstrates whathappens when a person is allowed freedom to ndtheir path from a young age, and is therefore an apt

choice to provide choreography for Sadler’s Wells’ forthcoming production of Shoes which explores thehuman condition through dance feet.

Mark spent the rst four years of his life in a silentworld until he received his rst hearing aids. Thiscoincided with his mother taking him along to hissister’s dance class where he was fascinated by thepiano and recorded music and started trying to copythe movements at the back of class.

Mark was offered a place at the famous White Lodge.However, he enrolled at the Royal Ballet School andthen the London Studio Centre which, he says, “was

like the Fame School in New York.” 

The way Mark teaches and choreographs sign dancewith professional dancers takes a radically differentapproach from conventional choreography as hedemonstrates from a seated position with a variety of elegant moves taken from British Sign Language.

He says, “Hearing people rely on their ears.Choreographers and teachers will say ‘put yourhands like ‘this’, hold your head up high’. Movementis a language. It expresses feeling and emotion. Iwill show the sign,” he performs a variety of moveswith the swish of hand palms which means ‘never’,

 “to the dancers who can perform it in their ownstyle. It is like a secret code.” 

Deaf Men Dancing is a new dance companywhich evolves through workshops with feedbackover two weeks before touring and often providesa valuable gateway for newly qualied performingarts students. Mark says, “it is a scary jungleleaving training for the rst time. They want to getexperience and condence to nd work.” 

Mark has toured his one-man show Signdance around well-known venues from the Royal FestivalHall, The Place, Albany Theatre to the Institute of Contemporary Arts.

He says, “I think the word in my head and see allthe movements that can come from it.” The dancingmay be accompanied by singing, a voiceover or asign language interpreter speaking.

After Shoes, Mark wants to continue makingsign dance bigger and extending it further into thehearing world. “I want to work more as a freelancechoreographer for dance companies.” 

SHOESA SHOW WITH LEGSRichard Thomas with Stephen MearWorld PremiereFriday 3 – Saturday 11 September 2010Previews Friday 3 – Monday 6 SeptemberPerformances at 7.30pm, Sat matinees at 2.30pmTickets: £10 - £48 (Previews £10 - £43)Ticket ofce: 0844 412 4300/www.sadlerswells.com

As well as being a trained ballet dancer, capable of oating nimbly across the dance oor, Mark is unencumbered by the fear thatfrequently stops people from exploring their full potential to pursue activities that appeal to them at a young age, then continuing towork in this chosen eld, to teach and direct others

Hearing Times interviews...Mark Smith Freelance dancer, Signdance teacher, actor, choreographer

Sophie Sweatman

The way Mark teaches andchoreographs sign dance withprofessional dancers takes aradically different approach fromconventional choreography

Sadler’s Wells takes on its rst Deaf choreographerin Mark Smith to work on Shoes, which begins aneight day run from 3 September. Richard Thomas,

whose last major production was Jerry Springer – TheOpera, a hit in the West End and Broadway, directs.

Shoes sets out to reveal the secrets of humanitythrough Thomas’ songs, performed with a liveband with four international singers and topchoreographers from a variety of dance disciplines;Stephen Mear, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Aletta Collinsand the 12 dancers also expand into sign dance withchoreography from Mark Smith.

From the age of four and those rst dance moves,Mark’s mother recognised his delight and arranged forhim to carry on even after his sister stopped. Mark says,

 “When I went to dance school I wasn’t scared. I thoughtI can do it. I can teach them. I can show them.” 

In the 1980s there was little access for Deaf students such as sign language interpretation and

“I think the word in my head and see all themovements that can come from it.”

Led by award-winning companySigns4Life, introductory employee in-house courses have been launched in thearea so workers can learn BSL, enablingthem to better communicate with peoplewho are deaf and hard of hearing.

The courses have proven to be asuccess so far with the locals who areparticipating and has taught them a newskill which they can feel proud of. One of those partaking in an introductory courseis Michelle Lewis, the Specsavers Managerin Newcastle-under-Lyme who believesthe knowledge gained has beneted herstaff and herself greatly, “We’ve had afew hearing-impaired customers in ourstore but we get more now.

hotels; care homes; opticians; hospitals;Royal Mail; schools and colleges;travel agents and even photographers;hairdressers and holiday parks.

The organisation was set up by FoziaParveen, who at this year’s BicesterBusiness Awards won the YoungEntrepreneur of the Year award. MsParveen, 28, learned sign language inorder to communicate with her partiallydeaf younger sister Aneesa, aged nine.It was then that Ms Parveen had the ideaof promoting the power of sign languageto the public and providing themwith the opportunity to learn BSL forthemselves. Not only does this help the

public learn a new and unique languagebut it also helps integrates deaf peopleinto mainstream society.

For more information on thecourses on offer or the fundraisingevenings visit the website atwww.signs4life.org.uk For thoseinterested in courses running inHalesowen they can phone tutorSara Phillips on 07964 019 764.

Employees from various rms in Halesowen, in the WestMidlands, have been urged to learn British Sign Language (BSL)in order to be able to communicate with the deaf community

Local trade boosted by learning to sign

Health Social Care students atHillingdon School try their hand at BSL

The customers reallyappreciate it, even if we’re just doing the basics

  “We have gained the skills andknowledge to ask a customer for theirdate of birth, address, phone numberetc and to also talk about frames, offersand prescriptions. The customers reallyappreciate it, even if we’re just doingthe basics. Quite a few regular patientsnow come in to see the same dispenser.The staff practise with each other, weare going to incorporate re-caps into our

13-week training plan.” 

Signs4Life recognises the fact thatthere are over nine million registered deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the UKand work hard with organisations to helppromote their introductory courses.Theorganisations they liaise with vary greatlyand include: supermarkets; activitycentres; the prison service; the Red Cross;housing associations; local councils; BT;

James Massoud