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"A song for the deaf" : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina
Laverne Francis' legs lifted her off the stage in the Elliot University Center on Sunday as she twirled and skipped to the rhythms of the Disney classic, "Under the Sea."
With a white top and shorts covering her bikini, she transported the audience to an exotic beach with her tidal moves and smooth sign language.
The performance won the hearts of the audience and judges at this year's American Sign Language Idol contest.
This was the fourth year of the show produced by the ASL program at UNCG. ASL Idol is a talent contest featuring sign language interpretation students signing and dancing to popular songs.
ASL program professors created the event as a fun way to put their students through their paces, but the competition has also become an opportunity for members of the local deaf community to get together.
Almost 300 people attended last year's contest. This year, audience members gathered in the halls outside the auditorium before and after the program, their hands and arms moving quickly, making introductions, catching up and sharing.
Mark Skotcher came to ASL Idol with friends. He said through ASL that many in the deaf community were concerned social events such as ASL Idol would disappear after the Central N.C. School for the Deaf closed in 2001.
"When it closed down we said, 'Oh no! What are we going to do?'" Skotcher signed, accompanied by interpreter Katie Middlebrook. The deaf community is grateful for the outreach that UNCG's program performs, he added.
UNCG is grateful to the deaf community, too, ASL professor Sam Parker said. His students meet with deaf people to practice their interpretation skills through sessions such as silent dinners, where the participants only use sign language to communicate. It would be difficult for his students to practice their skills if not for those in the local deaf community who volunteer their time.
"We wanted a way to give back to that community," he said.
The audience got to see some of the program's brightest students put their skills to the test. There were seven entries into this year's competition, four teams and three individuals. Songs included soulful girl group En Vogue's "Hold On To Your Love" and "Under the Sea," from the hit Disney movie "The Little Mermaid."
Francis got a standing ovation from the crowd. She said performing in front of a crowd helped her signing.
"It's very empowering for me. It builds my confidence in my signing," she said.
Francis, a junior at UNCG, hopes to one day open the first school for the deaf back home on the Virgin Islands.
Parker and other professors said they hope that next year's Idol competition will be even bigger. Parker joked that he hopes they will need to hold the event at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Laverne Francis' legs lifted her off the stage in the Elliot University Center on Sunday as she twirled and skipped to the rhythms of the Disney classic, "Under the Sea."
With a white top and shorts covering her bikini, she transported the audience to an exotic beach with her tidal moves and smooth sign language.
The performance won the hearts of the audience and judges at this year's American Sign Language Idol contest.
This was the fourth year of the show produced by the ASL program at UNCG. ASL Idol is a talent contest featuring sign language interpretation students signing and dancing to popular songs.
ASL program professors created the event as a fun way to put their students through their paces, but the competition has also become an opportunity for members of the local deaf community to get together.
Almost 300 people attended last year's contest. This year, audience members gathered in the halls outside the auditorium before and after the program, their hands and arms moving quickly, making introductions, catching up and sharing.
Mark Skotcher came to ASL Idol with friends. He said through ASL that many in the deaf community were concerned social events such as ASL Idol would disappear after the Central N.C. School for the Deaf closed in 2001.
"When it closed down we said, 'Oh no! What are we going to do?'" Skotcher signed, accompanied by interpreter Katie Middlebrook. The deaf community is grateful for the outreach that UNCG's program performs, he added.
UNCG is grateful to the deaf community, too, ASL professor Sam Parker said. His students meet with deaf people to practice their interpretation skills through sessions such as silent dinners, where the participants only use sign language to communicate. It would be difficult for his students to practice their skills if not for those in the local deaf community who volunteer their time.
"We wanted a way to give back to that community," he said.
The audience got to see some of the program's brightest students put their skills to the test. There were seven entries into this year's competition, four teams and three individuals. Songs included soulful girl group En Vogue's "Hold On To Your Love" and "Under the Sea," from the hit Disney movie "The Little Mermaid."
Francis got a standing ovation from the crowd. She said performing in front of a crowd helped her signing.
"It's very empowering for me. It builds my confidence in my signing," she said.
Francis, a junior at UNCG, hopes to one day open the first school for the deaf back home on the Virgin Islands.
Parker and other professors said they hope that next year's Idol competition will be even bigger. Parker joked that he hopes they will need to hold the event at the Greensboro Coliseum.