Founded in 2007 by pioneering Deaf dancer/choreographer Antoine Hunter, Urban Jazz Dance Company (UJDC) is a Deaf-led company consisting of professional Deaf and Hearing dancers. UJDC aims to provide opportunities for Deaf and other-abled artists to contribute to the arts and broader society, increasing awareness around Deaf issues through the performing arts.
Featuring the syncopation of urban jazz rhythms, the company values the importance of play and performance to connect cultures of all races, ages, abilities, and backgrounds. UJDC performs extensively across the Bay Area and internationally, including festivals such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Black Choreographers Festival, CubaCaribe Festival, Art and Soul Festival, DeafNation, DisneyLand Disney’s Signin’ in the Street, Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Green Show, and the Ethnic Dance Festival. Its programs engage and inspire both Deaf and Hearing audiences alike.
UJDC also produces the annual Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival, and views Deafness not as a disability but as a human experience with its own values, principles, and cultural norms.
UJDC’s residency program at 836M, #DeafWoke: Communication in Conversation, will center on communication and conversation, celebrating meaningful dialogue between Deaf and hearing communities through accessible and immersive discussions. The project explores how different artistic mediums—dance, painting, sculpture, and music—can foster communication, build bridges, and transcend traditional barriers. At the heart of the residency is #DeafWoke: Communication in Conversation, an extension of Antoine Hunter’s acclaimed live-stream show, #DeafWoke, which has sparked global dialogue between Deaf and hearing artists. These interviews will take place in person for the first time, offering an intimate opportunity to share stories and experiences while showcasing artists’ work—paintings, sculptures, music, and literature—that communicate Deaf culture, accessibility, and shared challenges.
Throughout the three-month residency, artists will present their works in progress through gallery exhibitions, community talks, and collaborative workshops, inviting the public to engage in ongoing dialogue. The residency will culminate in a public performance that integrates dance and visual art, showcasing the unique conversations that have developed between the mediums. The residency will include three gallery exhibitions with an emphasis on pieces that communicate stories from Deaf culture or explore themes of accessibility and language, five in-person interviews with Deaf and hearing artists on #DeafWoke, celebrating access to face-to-face conversations where artists share their work and discuss the intersection of art and the Deaf experience, and three public performances combining dance and live visual art creation, offering a dynamic, immersive experience for attendees.
Photo by RJ Muna
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Antoine Hunter, Founder of UJDC, is a renowned Deaf choreographer, director, and advocate for the Deaf and Disabled communities. His work highlights the beauty of Deaf culture, and through his leadership, UJDC has become a global ambassador for inclusion and accessibility in the arts.
Malik Seneferu is a notable artist who uses powerful visual art that reflects African heritage, spirituality, and social justice themes. His work often bridges the past with contemporary issues, celebrating Black culture and history. An award-winning self-taught painter, draughtsman, muralist, sculptor, illustrator, and instructor. Seneferu’s work has traveled internationally and adorned book, magazine, and newspaper covers. From New York’s Schomburg Center and Smithsonian to London, then Durban, South Africa’s “War against Racism,” and on to Italy, Haiti, and Kenya, his art travels while becoming well known for his live-painting and ArtMagnet invention.
Cherie Espy, a Deaf Black woman born in San Bernardino, California, and raised in Oakland, is a shining example of resilience, creativity, and faith. Her journey has been shaped by challenges, including domestic violence (DV) and depression, which once led her to put aside the art she loved. Today, Cherie is reigniting her passion for art, embracing her creativity with renewed purpose and determination.
Art has always been central to Cherie’s life. She discovered its healing power at the age of 13, using hands-on creativity as a way to cope with depression and feelings of isolation as a Deaf person. Through painting, fashion design, and sculpting with unconventional materials like hair, Cherie found freedom and self-expression. Her work often reflects her journey, processing the pain of domestic violence and loneliness while empowering herself as a Black Deaf woman. Art is not just a creative outlet for Cherie—it is a means of healing and rediscovering her strength. Despite the challenges she faced, Cherie has always aimed to be a professional artist. While domestic violence and depression caused her to step away from the art she loved, she is now starting again, reigniting her passion with a focus on her unique voice and vision. Her art celebrates Afro-cultural expression and connects deeply to her faith, which she credits as a guiding force in her life. Her connection to God provides her with strength, inspiration, and the belief that she is fulfilling a divine plan. Education has played a vital role in Cherie’s growth. After attending Bret Harte Middle School, she graduated from the California School for the Deaf in Fremont in 2001. In 2024, she earned an Associate of Science degree in Cosmetology from Laney College, furthering her creative skills and professional aspirations.
Cherie’s creativity extends to her community. She has worked with children on fashion shows at Vallejo Deaf Church from 2014 to 2020, combining her love for art and service. She also teaches youth ministry and performs with the praise group Deaf Dynamic Praise (DDP) at Vallejo Deaf Church, where her faith and leadership continue to inspire others. Cherie Espy’s story is one of transformation, perseverance, and renewal. Through her art, she not only tells her own story but also inspires others to overcome challenges and rediscover their passions. Her life is a testament to the power of faith, creativity, and the unyielding strength of the human spirit.
ASL Love is a San Francisco Bay Area organization that was founded to provide Deaf expressive artists a space to share their artistic creations with the world.