A look back at April 1, 2026
On the evening of Stephanie Lake Company’s performance of Manifesto, something meaningful was added to the experience. A cohort from the Regards culturels en LSQ project was in attendance to experience the work, observe it, feel it, and then share their impressions from a Deaf perspective.
Led by Les Filles électriques, Regards culturels en LSQ is a cultural mediation initiative for the deaf community. In 2025–2026, approximately ten deaf participants had the opportunity to attend a range of artistic productions. The project offers much more than access to culture: it calls for the recognition of a perspective, a language, and a form of critical thought that are rich and well established, yet still too rarely placed at the heart of cultural conversations.
With Manifesto, this encounter took on a particular resonance. Performed by nine dancers, nine percussionists, and nine drum kits, the work generates a physical and rhythmic energy that extends far beyond sound. It is also experienced through vibrations, surges of movement, moments of suspension, the relationships between bodies, and gestures that echo one another. Welcoming Regards culturels en LSQ thus created space for a shift in perspective: how is a work experienced when one has a different relationship with sound, rhythm, and the body?
This perspective reminds us that live performance can be seen, felt, and experienced physically, then conveyed through a visual, embodied, and spatial language.
Testimonial from a group participant
In this video (French subtitles only), Rim Kharrat shares her experience of encountering Manifesto: what moved her, stayed with her, or prompted reflection, and how the work resonated from her own deaf perspective. Her testimonial offers a thoughtful glimpse into another way of experiencing, interpreting, and sharing live performance.
In a performance like Manifesto, where rhythm becomes almost a collective force, this encounter takes on its full meaning. It reminds us that dance belongs not only to those who hear its beat, but also to those who read it in space, feel it in their bodies, and translate it into images, signs, and sensations.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the entire Regards culturels en LSQ team for this meaningful encounter and for their thoughtful work on accessibility, knowledge sharing, and critical perspectives in Quebec Sign Language. We were delighted to welcome the project as part of Manifesto and to contribute, in our own way, to bringing these essential perspectives on the performing arts into broader circulation.
In collaboration with
Dance beyond sound
