Search launched for young deaf music and dance stars

A competition has been launched by the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) to find young deaf musicians and dancers to show off their skills in their Raising the Bar competition.

The competition hopes to encourage some of the 45,000 deaf children in the UK to participate in music and dance based activities to increase awareness of deafness throughout the arts and highlight the standard of performance that young deaf performers can produce.

Raising the Bar has been launched by former Hollyoaks actress, Rachel Shenton who said: “It’s really fantastic that deaf children and young people can showcase their skills in dance and music through the NDCS ‘Raising the Bar’ competition.

“Interacting with other deaf young people through performance and music is vital for aspiring deaf performers in order to build their self-confidence and demonstrate to others what’s possible for deaf children to achieve in dance and music.”

The competition runs until 22 February 2015 and accepts entrants between the ages of eight and sixteen. To have a chance of winning, entrants have to produce a video of themselves performing a music or dance routine.

The competition will be judged by the NDCS and some professionals within the deaf arts industry. Ten winners will be selected and be invited to participate in a masterclass on the 24–25 May 2014 where they will meet the only touring deaf dancing crew in the UK ‘Def Motion,’ as well as Danny Lane from charity ‘Music and the Deaf’ and deaf flutist Ruth Montgomery.

The masterclass is planned to conclude with a performance by the Raising the Bar winners, organised to take place at The Rep Theatre in Birmingham.

Head of inclusive activities for the NDCS, Hayley Jarvis said: “Deaf children can do anything other children can do, given the right support. Participation in the arts gives deaf children and young people the chance to learn new skills, and feel more confident and empowered – and participation is what Raising the Bar is all about!

“We will also be developing a ‘toolkit’ for teachers to raise the awareness and expectations of deaf dance and music professionals. We hope this will inspire professionals across the arts to deliver accessible activities for deaf children and young people.”

Ms Shenton added: “Raising awareness across the arts industry, making dance and music accessible for everyone is so important and I wholeheartedly encourage all the budding deaf musicians and dancers out there to get involved, sign up and be part of it!”