A DEAF dancer who uses vibrations in the floor to “hear” the music has been awarded a scholarship by Edge Hill University for her work to encourage more disabled people into performing arts.
Jennifer Myatt, a BA (Hons) dance student, received an Excellence in Performing Arts Scholarship at a ceremony led by the university’s chancellor and celebrity psychologist Prof Tanya Byron.
Though she has been profoundly deaf from birth, Jennifer, from Liverpool, has been dancing since the age of three.
She says: “I can feel the vibration of the music through the floor and once I have the beat I keep count in my head so that I stay in time with the other dancers.
“Many disabled people feel the performing arts field is not open to them. I hope I have proved that this isn’t the case.”
Jennifer hopes to produce a musical dance piece involving deaf performers using sign language working alongside hearing performers.
