Gallaudet Dance Company Dancers

The Gallaudet Dance Company is a performing group of approximately 12-15 dancers. The dancers come from diverse backgrounds, with a range of hearing levels, preferred communication modes, primary school education, and current major field of study as a university student. They rely on their vision as their primary mode of communication and express themselves through their dancing in a variety of styles including modern jazz, hip-hop, modern dance, lyrical ballet, and dance that uses American Sign Language (ASL) as its foundation.

All members of the company are undergraduate or graduate students at Gallaudet University, the world’s only accredited liberal arts university for Deaf and hard of hearing students. Gallaudet University is a bilingual community where students, faculty, and staff communicate with each other in both American Sign Language and English. The bilingual approach is a cornerstone of the Gallaudet Dance Company from rehearsal to the stage, creating a dynamic fusion of ASL and dance. The company is acclaimed for performances at the White House, and on stages in Egypt, Israel, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Peru, Barbados, St. Lucia, Brazil, Guatemala, South Korea, the Bahamas, and France, as well as participation in the International film “Dancing Joy.”

The Gallaudet Dance Company has entertained audiences of all ages around the world for more than 65 years. It is considered to be one of the most exciting troupes presenting dance with ASL. The company is not able to satisfy all of the many requests it receives for two reasons. First, the dancers’ primary responsibility is to their liberal arts studies. Secondly, the company is self-sustaining and requires financial support for its performances.

Since 1950’s, the Delta Zeta Foundation and Delta Zeta Sorority has supported Gallaudet University and the Gallaudet Dance Company. Delta Zeta has supported Gallaudet by funding a Delta Zeta Scholarship Fund for students, a Fine Arts Endowment Fund/Delta Zeta Dance Studio and the Gallaudet Dance Company. Thank you DZ and to our loyal sponsors. Your donation is greatly appreciated. If you wish to make a donation to the Gallaudet Dance Company, please visit our Donation Page.