Deaf Pagan Crossroads

You might recall that two months ago I attended the National Women’s Music Festival, held on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. This was a wonderful four-day event with many different activities to participate in – workshops, musical performances, drumming circles, live auction, films made by women, dancing, vendors, rituals…

and a chance to network with hundreds of other women in a positive environment that allows women to be the best at what they do while being themselves.

Year after year the National Women’s Music Festival has worked hard to bring the best and the brightest in women’s music, women’s writings, women’s comedy, women’s film, women’s spirituality, women’s art…and women’s lives. This year was the 32nd festival, and I look forward to participating in many more in the years to come.

The National Women’s Music Festival strives to make itself accessible to all women, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. One of the individuals on the board is herself a professional sign language interpreter as well as the mother of a deaf daughter, and helps to coordinate services for deaf and hard of hearing participants. This year there were six interpreters available – all of the main performances, presentations, and events were interpreted; and interpreters were available for workshops upon request. In addition, some of the performers (such as the Indianapolis Women’s Chorus) brought their own interpreters.

With the help of Janice Rickert – NWMF’s skilled photographer and a truly beautiful person – I present to you some photos from this year’s festival. As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words!”

festival opening presentation with interpreter

one of the musicians enjoys a moment on stage with the interpreter

one of the younger performers demonstrates her instrumental skills,

while the interpreter signs the lyrics to the song

drummer extraordinaire Wahru performs,

with a little help from a Deaf participant

many vendors set up their booths at the festival;

selling jewelry, clothing, art, books, bath products, pet products, etc.

a group shot of musicians & interpreters on the stage for the final day

special thanks to Janice Rickert for sharing some of the photos taken at the festival

this is just a small sample of what goes on at the festival…

photos of workshops, etc. are not posted to respect the privacy of participants

If you have ever attended the Michigan Women’s Music Festival, you have an idea of what this type of event is like. However, the National Women’s Music Festival is not as rustic – it takes place on a university campus, where everything occurs inside campus buildings, and you can sleep in the dormitory reserved for attendees of the festival, or at one of the local hotels nearby. No need to worry about the weather, the terrain, cold showers or portapotties.

Next year’s festival will occur July 10 – July 13th at Illinois State University. Women In the Arts, Inc. – the non-profit organization which sponsors the National Women’s Music Festival – is already hard at work making plans. I look forward to hopefully attending in 2008!

For more information about NWMF, check out the page at

http://wiaonline.org/AboutNWMF.html

Also check out my previous post about the festival:

http://deafpagan.com/2007/06/25/interpreted-womens-festival/

For those interested in possibly interpreting for the festival

or learning more about services for deaf and hard of hearing participants,

contact

Ruth Rowan – rarowan@cinci.rr.com