Speaking Vibrations About - Speaking Vibrations

About

Speaking Vibrations is created and performed by four artists: ASL poet and storyteller Jo-Anne Bryan, percussive dance artist Carmelle Cachero, literary Hip Hop artist King Kimbit, and contemporary dance artist Jordan Samonas; produced and project managed by Carmelle Cachero and Jordan Samonas.

We are four women from different walks of life, of diverse identities and practices, intersecting through art and beyond. The tensions between where we are from, where we live, and the languages we speak, sign, or have lost, are the stories and songs our work is grounded in.

Accessibility is built into our aesthetic and design. We:

create inclusive, accessible and interdisciplinary performance works
highlight and uplift Deaf storytelling, performance, and creation methods
combine & blend genres of performance and storytelling (e.g. movement, percussive music,
rap, spoken word, ASL song/poetry)
use innovative and accessible technologies, production methods, stage & sound design (e.g.
vibrotactile devices, vibrotactile metronome watches, visualization and tactilization of
sound/music)
embody an accessible inclusive, and integrative audience/performance philosophy and
aesthetic; collaborate with like minded artists, producers, and creators
connect with d/Deaf and hard of hearing audiences, non-Deaf audience, ASL and LSQ-using audiences

Our creative interests include the blending of artforms (rhythm tap dance, percussive dance, spoken word, song, rap, ASL song/poetry, visual vernacular, contemporary dance), the visualization and tactilization of sound and music, and using creative technology and design to enhance live art performance experiences for diverse audiences.

Speaking Vibrations was recently chosen for the 2023 Corel Endowment Fund for the Arts Award from the Ottawa Arts Council. We were selected for Great Canadian Theatre Company’s Mainstage 2021/2022 season and nominated in two categories for this performance, in Best Direction (Jacqui du Toit and Pamela Witcher and Best Design (David Bobier, Jim Ruxton & Jesse Stewart) in the 2022 Prix Rideau Awards. At the Ottawa Fringe Festival in 2021, Speaking Vibrations was awarded “Outstanding Ensemble Performance.” Our work has been funded and supported by the City of Ottawa, Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts, and has attracted attention from interviews and reviews with newspaper, radio, magazine and online publications.

Our Team:

creation/performance | Jo-Anne Bryan, Carmelle Cachero, King Kimbit, & Jordan Samonas

producers | Carmelle Cachero & Jordan Samonas

stage & production manager | Kat Wong

director/dramaturg | Jacqui du Toit

Deaf culture director | Pamela Witcher

lighting design | Emilio Sebastiao

projection & video designer | Lesley Marshall

vibrotactile specialists | David Bobier & Jim Ruxton (VibrafusionLab)

lead interpreter | Marianne Kelly

The Artists

A Filipina woman in a red sash poses against a black background.

Carmelle Cachero

Co-Producer, Creator, Performer

Carmelle Cachero tells her story through rhythm and her passion for the art form of rhythm tap is a driving force to her pursuits. In addition to Speaking Vibrations, she currently dances with the Ottawa Rhythm Initiative Ensemble and YOW City Tap. She co-founded the West Coast Tap Dance Collective and is a former member of The Urban Tap Squad, both based in Vancouver. Carmelle currently is a Producing Fellow in the ThisGen Fellowship under the partnership of Why Not Theatre and the National Arts Centre. Her love for the arts extends into other aspects of her life working as a Sign Language Interpreter for theatre and the performing arts.

White woman in a white costume poses on stage against a blue background.

Jordan Samonas

Co-Producer, Creator, Performer

Jordan Samonas is a performer, choreographer and producer of interdisciplinary works and events, with an eclectic movement background. Visionary and go-getter, Jordan has a background in indie self-production: ROOTED Contemporary Dance (2015-2019); NORTH OF MIND with Don Ross (2018) and Speaking Vibrations Accessible Concert Film (2021). Select credits: Speaking Vibrations (Great Canadian Theatre Company, 2022; Ottawa Fringe Festival, 2021; Uproar Arts Festival, 2019), ex-ducere (Nextfest Arts Festival, 2021); A Hug in Several Parts (Dark Horse Dance Projects, 2019) snowdance2 (ROOTED Contemporary Dance, 2019), technosapien (Series Dance10-Ottawa Dance Directive, 2018); Ottawa Rhythm Initiative Ensemble (Ottawa Jazz Festival, 2018).

A Black woman in a bright green dress poses against a black background.

Jo-Anne Bryan

Creator, Performer

Jo-Anne Anita Bryan is an Ottawa-based Artist experiencing life through the intersections of being Black, Deaf, Queer, and Woman. Her artistry includes American Sign Language (ASL) storytelling and performance. Jo-Anne is one-quarter of the Speaking Vibrations group; they did their first performance at Uproar Arts Festival (2019). Jo-Anne performed her ASL storytelling Where You Come From (Phenomena Festival, 2019) and 400 years (Sound Off Festival, 2021). When not performing, she works as ASL consultant/Deaf interpreter to interpreters and Deaf theatre actors and creates illustrations in her spare time. She wants to ensure that theatre is accessible to Deaf communities.

A Southeast Asian woman in a dark blue robe poses against a black background.

King Kimbit

Creator, Performer

King Kimbit is a literary and vocal Hip-Hop artist based on traditional land of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg. As a daughter of the Vietnamese Diaspora, King yearns to explore the roots of her journey as she expresses through art forms learned from an inner-city upbringing, some of which can be heard on her debut album, Life Lessons Poetically. King is passionate about empowering and encouraging youth, community care, and sharing love through writing, reciting, and the abolition of punitive, carceral institutions, and is currently working on her sophomore album, Healing Trauma From The Projects.