-ISM: an ASL Storytelling Event presented by Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA)
Saturday, September 24th at 11:00 a.m.
Performed in American Sign Language (ASL), members of Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA), will share stories of racism, audism, genderism, and other “-isms” that impact their lives.
Location: Auditorium, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
*The Auditorium is located on the 5th Floor of MLK Library (4th Floor entrance for wheelchair and non-stair access)
Storytellers:
- Natasha Cecily Bacchus is an athlete and performing artist and is passionate about deaf advocacy, fitness, and physical expression. Throughout her life, she has nurtured her passion for fitness, competing as a professional athlete and securing medal positions in the Deaf Olympics, Pan Am Olympics, and many other competitive sporting events. As an actress, Natasha has participated in numerous theatre and film productions. She has a strong desire to continue to grow and develop as a performing artist, expanding representation to include differently-abled persons and empowering Black Deaf women in Canada to shine on and off the stage.
- Antines “NuNu” Davis was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She briefly attended the William Baer School in Baltimore City, Maryland, but graduated from the Maryland School for the Deaf in 1985. In 1985 She attended Gallaudet University, and eventually transferred to North Central Bible University in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she received a B.A. in Pastoral Studies. She was the former “Miss Deaf Minnesota Queen” in 1991, marking an important history as the first Black Deaf female to win the title. She loves to share her ASL stories with the Deaf community and she’d shared a couple of her stories in VOCA’s ISM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. She has been actively involved in several organizations in the deaf community such as Deaf Women of Color, National Deaf People of Color, and the Baltimore Chapter of the National Black Deaf Advocates.
- Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant is a professional dancer. An alumni of Philadelphia's University of the Arts with a AA in Modern Dance, he has attained outstanding credentials in its world-renowned as an actor, director, co-director, choreographer, International Deaf Performer, and Artist and assistant director for Quest Visual Theatre for the deaf and hard of hearing and occasional ASL sign consultant in theatre, music videos, ASL Coach, mentor, deaf rights, LGBTQ rights, and advocates and traveling the world. His most recent theater credits include VOCA's ISM at the Atlas Performing Arts Center and The Music Man at Olney Theatre Center. Currently, he is the founder of the Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant Foundation and co-founder of Def Lens Media.
Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC. VOCA was established in July 2019 in response to the critical need to support the works of the D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists all together locally and nationwide. The Deaf/HH BIPOC community and its artists have been overlooked and underrepresented in mainstream and Deaf culture, a form of social injustice that VOCA stands to redress (visionariesofthecreativearts.org).
*The performance will be in ASL. Voice/ASL interpretation and CART will be provided. For other reasonable accommodation, contact the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov.
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