If You’re Not Building a Bridge, You’re Widening a Divide
Events are all about bridge-building. The goal of any live event is to connect with your audience to share a meaningful message, bringing them from Point A to Point B through powerfully shared experiences. To truly achieve our goal, we must embrace the fact that different audience members need different bridges to arrive where we hope to take them.
All too often, the difference between building a bridge and widening a divide can boil down to who is delivering a message, and how it is delivered. It’s natural that people are going to gravitate toward a message when it’s delivered by people like them, in an authentic way that they can easily absorb and appreciate.
Sadly, society has been slow in accepting these simple facts in many ways over the years. Just a few decades ago, producers for TV shows like Bonanza and The Big Valley thought it was fine to put brown make-up on white actors and have them play Native American roles.
The same lesson applies for musical experiences and those who are hearing-impaired. Sign language interpreters are more frequently seen at concerts in recent years, but is there more that can be done to convey the message and experience?
Spoiler alert: there is.
Credit: Amber Galloway Gallego
Consider the work of artists like Amber Galloway Gallego, a pioneer in taking American Sign Language beyond words to more effectively bring music to life, vibrantly illustrating the tantalizing trill of a piano or the heartbeat thump of a bass drum to enable hearing-impaired audiences to experience music like never before.
Credit: Not Your Momma’s History
Further inspiration is found with Cheyney McKnight, founder of Not Your Momma's History, who uses live presentations, authentic props, and performance art to build understanding of the experiences of Black Americans before the Civil War.
Credit: Urban Jazz Dance Company
Diverse groups of singers and dancers are increasingly the norm – and expectation – for audiences these days. Dance troupes such as The Wild Zappers and Urban Jazz Dance Company, include performers who are deaf and hard of hearing. With each performance they send a message that people with diverse backgrounds are equally welcome to participate in a memorable experience.
Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
We are also seeing progress in casting in areas like Broadway, where in 2019, Ali Stoker became the first wheelchair-using actor to win a Tony Award for her work in a production of “Oklahoma!” The achievement demonstrated progress, but also the work that remains, as Stoker had to wait backstage to receive her award because the stage was not ADA-accessible from the audience.
As producers of live events in destinations, we must not only craft messages for everyone to understand and appreciate, but also build the right bridges to help ensure that no one is left behind. “The who” is a critical consideration, but we must also consider “the how.” After all, our bridge-builders are not just message conduits; they are in fact part of the message. We must be open to diverse perspectives, and give space for performers to adjust or redefine the message through their points of view.
Credit: Teatro Ciego
If we embrace these efforts, we can discover new ways to build deeper connections across all audiences. Success stories like Argentina’s Teatro Ciego, which presents theatrical experiences in complete darkness, remind us that we’re not building one-way bridges … they truly benefit those on either side.
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