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<div align="center"><b>Deaf Jam: <i>Flying Words Project</i> Portrays
Vibrant World of ASL Poetry<br>
</b><br><br>
Hartford, CT -- The Institute for Community Research, in collaboration
with the Carol Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities at Saint
Joseph College and the National Theater of the Deaf, will present the
poetry of <i>Flying Words Project</i> in a performance featuring deaf
poet Peter Cook and 'hearing voice' Kenny Lerner. The performance will
take place on Friday, November 4 at 7:30 pm, at Hoffman Auditorium on the
Saint Joseph College campus at 1678 Asylum Avenue, West Hartford. The
poets will hold a 'talk back' with the audience after their performance.
Tickets are priced at $18 general admission, with discounts for seniors,
alumni, students and children (K-8).<br><br>
<i>Flying Words Project</i> has brought American Sign Language (ASL)
poetry to hearing and deaf audiences around the world. Their work bridges
many genres of poetry and performance, seamlessly incorporating spoken
word with an emphasis on performance rather than text; the craft of
acting as it conveys expression through movement; and ASL as an
evocative, symbolic, body-centered form of communication.<br><br>
"To witness the work of <i>Flying Words Project</i> is to witness a
milestone in literary history," Dirksen Bauman, Associate Professor
at Gallaudet University has noted. "<i>Flying Words Project</i> has
accomplished what poets have been trying to do for several centuries now;
to make their poems more visual, more embodied, more
alive."<br><br>
<i>Flying Words Project</i> has performed nationally and in Europe in
places such as the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Harvard University,
The People's Poetry Gathering in NYC, and Theatre de Lucernaire in Paris.
They have received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts,
the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Puffin Foundation. Cook and
Lerner began collaborating on <i>Flying Words Project</i> in 1984. They
are the authors of two videotape anthologies, <i>The Year of the Walking
Dogs</i> (1984-90) and the <i>Can't Touch Tours</i> (1990-2003).
<i>Flying Words Project</i> has also been active in promoting ASL poetry
around the United States through workshops and by organizing the First
National ASL Literature Conference (1991). They were recently featured at
the 36th International Poetry Festival in Rotterdam, Netherlands.<br>
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The performance is supported by the Aetna Foundation; the Greater
Hartford Arts Council through its United Arts Campaign and the United Way
Community Campaign; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Connecticut
Commission on Culture and Tourism; The Institute for Community Research;
Saint Joseph College; and the National Theater of the Deaf.<br><br>
Tickets for Friday evening's performance can be purchased at the Frances
Driscoll Box Office at Saint Joseph College, by telephone at
860-231-5555, or online at
<a href="http://www.sjc.edu/arts" eudora="autourl">www.sjc.edu/arts</a>.
For more information about the performance, contact Lynne Williamson at
The Institute for Community Research, at 860-278-2044 ext. 251. <br><br>
<br>
<font size=2>The Institute for Community Research is an independent
research institute that conducts applied research and supports community
enhancement programs on issues of health, education and cultural
heritage. Its Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program encourages and
promotes traditional artists and their communities through an active
process of documentation, technical assistance, and public presentations
to bring their work and the history of their communities to new
audiences.<br>
</font><br><br>
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