Welcome to the ASL Opera Project where Janna Sweenie and David Boles are working to bring American Sign Language interpreting to Opera performances all over the world! Read Our Interview with Opera Wire! This ASL Opera Project was divined in order to right a wrong -- that the Deaf are not interested in Opera. This project will provide resources in performance and resources in conclusion to help bring the "high art" of Opera to a diverse, if disabled, audience. The Deaf should no longer be excluded, ignored,
In this video, Janna Sweenie takes on a fascinating interpreting task. In this song, "I colori del vento (Colours of the Wind) from the Pocahontas movie musical, Janna is interpreting, in American Sign Language, the Italian translated version of the song. The translation complication is this: Original song in English => translated for Italian audiences => translated from the Italian back into English (that honors the Italian interpretation) => translated into ASL... which is not based on the origianal Engli
Janna Sweenie interprets Diana Damrau performing the "Queen of the Night" aria from "The Magic Flute." In this performance, Janna has added a similar look, and feel -- in both costume and design -- to her interpretation. If this were a live stage interpretation, Janna would be dressed in regular performance blacks.
David Boles