Silent Steps : Dancing Without Hearing to Standing Ovation

To the casual observer, people dance in response apparently to the sound they hear. So, arguably, if a person can’t hear, he or she couldn’t dance! It makes logical sense, right?

Wrong! At DLS-CSB, a group of dancers puts the derogatory argument on its toes. All group members are Deaf--they can’t hear the music--yet their shows attract raves wherever they perform. They have danced their way before appreciative Deaf and hearing audiences.

The group is appropriately named Silent Steps. The members first got together during the first term of 2004 at SDEAS as a group of volunteers in the Deaf Performing Arts Program of the Office of Deaf Esteem and Formation (O-DEAF). They were organized to join a dance contest called Maximum Groovity since the official dance group of CSB was not available to perform at that time. John Baliza, who was then the coordinator of student activities, coined the name “Silent Steps” for the group.

About 20 SDEAS students made it to the seminal group. O-DEAF’s Nicky Templo says, “They were an excitable bunch. They really loved to dance!” The same excitement and love for dancing remain in the current crop of Silent Steps.

But, how could the Deaf dance without hearing a thing? Myra Medrana, faculty at O-DEAF, and veteran theater artist of Teatro Silencio and Dulaang Tahimik, offers a simple technique. She plays the music on a CD player, puts her ears near the speakers and feels the vibration to imagine the dance sequences. This is no different from the process applied by Beethoven, the legendary Deaf pianist, in composing his classical masterpieces.

Myra also takes note of the running time of the music, and if the music come with a lyrics sheet, she calls on an interpreter to sign. She then watches the interpreter and proceeds to design the appropriate dance movements in time with her various cues: the speaker’s vibration, the interpreter’s sign, and the music’s running time.

Myra then gives the cues she has crafted for the Deaf dancers to follow. During a typical performance. Myra takes her place just below the stage holding a cellphone as her timekeeper while the interpreter stands beside her signing the lyrics.

This formula has worked through various incarnations of the Deaf dance ensemble. The group’s performance at their first competition, Maximum Groovity at the Ateneo de Manila University was so moving Silent Steps brought home a trophy for Special Performance. It proved to be an auspicious beginning.

Since then, Silent Steps has performed in Deaf Festivals, DLS Alumni reunion, La Salle Scholarship Campaign, twice outside the campus and other events at CSB. At present, Silent Steps is the only performing group in DLS-CSB SDEAS.

Students 2nd year and up are welcome to join the group. Many apply, but its membership has been maintained at 15 to 20 dancers during the term. “Most applicants can’t cope up with the rigorous practice,” explains Nicky. “And those who stay have to contend with ODEAF meticulously checking their academic standing during the term. A failing mark means the dancer will have to take a leave from the group and concentrate in his studies the following term. The dictum is “You are a student first, a dancer second.””

A number of former Silent Step members have moved on to join Dulaang Tahimik (Deaf theater group). O-DEAF is currently working to integrate Silent Steps into the training program of CSB’s Office of Culture and Arts.

O-DEAF makes it clear to Silent Steps members that dancing may not be the best career option for them since venues for Deaf dancers are hard to come by.

As Nicky Templo tells the dancers, “There is no venue for professional Deaf dancers. Of course, that doesn’t take away the fact that through dancing, they inspire the Deaf community. As a Silent Step, every member takes on the responsibility to advocate, to show that the Deaf can, and if they can dance, the Deaf can do other creative things just as well.”

If only for this, it can be said that Silent Steps serve a higher, more meaningful purpose.