Educational Media Reviews Online

The annual Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, held in late July in the Berkshires near Hillsdale, New York, has been a venue for musicians, poets, and storytellers partnered with American Sign Language (ASL) performance interpreters for over a decade. Robinson, a professor in the School of Film and Animation at Rochester Institute of Technology, conducted interviews and drew from performances at the 2003 and 2004 festivals for this documentary.

Musicians discuss their collaboration with interpreters and how the added visual element of ASL interpretation enhances their understanding of their work. Interpreters explain the process involved in translating not merely the literal words of songs, poetry and stories, but also the mood and deeper messages to be conveyed, while using the energy from both performers and the audience to express their response to the material. Deaf patrons of the festival provide observations about how visual interpretations have deepened their enjoyment of the various genres.

While ASL naturally lends itself to the interpretation of stories, nonlinear poetry can be more challenging. However, the limitations of the English language can be overcome by ASL, a visual form of communication with a strong oral tradition.

One musician noted that deaf people who use ASL would attend performance arts events if performance interpreters were included in the programming.

Visual Lyrics was screened in the fall of 2005 at the Orinda Film Festival in Orinda, California.

Both the audio and video qualities are fine. The film is open captioned for deaf viewers, and on-screen ASL is voice interpreted. All libraries supporting hearing-impaired communication and the performing arts should consider acquiring this documentary.