The power of signed song
Temas
Detalles
António Cabral was born profoundly deaf and had never thought of getting involved in music. While growing up, he had an interest in theatre and painting, and went on to paint professionally. Mãos que Cantam (Singing Hands) is the first professional, Deaf-led signed song group in Portugal. Created in 2010, the group is composed by five Deaf artists (António Cabral, Cláudia Dias, Carlos Gonçalves, Débora Carmo and Patrícia Carmo), one hearing conductor (Sérgio Peixoto) and the group’s designated Portuguese Sign Language interpreter (Sofia Figueiredo). The Deaf artists work as a team, translating lyrics into an aesthetic form of Portuguese Sign Language (Língua Gestual Portuguesa, LGP). Expressing musical elements visually, using different signing voices, developing synchronism to the original song, and rehearsing beginnings and endings of signed verses are all results of a group effort, in a fruitful Deaf-hearing collaboration, based on a profound respect for the language and culture of the Portuguese Deaf community.