Following on from our long-form piece tackling female diversity in electronic music, Smirnoff’s ‘We’re Open’ campaign continues down the road of celebrating inclusivity in music, but this time is has a fascinating twist.
Not often do we stop and think about how music, and dance culture in particular, affects those who are unable to hear. The subject of safeguarding our own hearing in the world of electronic music has been growing slowly, with companies raising awareness of ear protection in clubs and even an EU campaign to limit volume on handheld music devices. But imagine not being able to hear music at all, and instead feel it.
That’s something dancer Chris Fonseca has been experiencing his whole life. Rather than hear beats and channel that energy into his movements, Fonseca has built his career about feeling the music penetrate his body and picking up signals from vibrations. A shining light in deaf culture, Chris’s story is pretty inspiring – in this BTS journey in collaboration Smirnoff, Chris shows us how he found his own way to express his passion.
Smirnoff have teamed up with Noisey in collaboration with Chris Fonseca and dance crew Plague to choreograph a music video for Donae’o’s ‘Mami No Like’. Although Plague are all hearing dancers, Chris managed to dance with the group in a completely unique way – encouraging the dancers to feel the vibrations rather than take cues from the sound itself.
Watch the making of the video in full above, and the finished product below.
