Debbie Rennie Jazzberries performance and presentation

This video consists of two parts, a performance given on September 24, 1987 at Jazzberries and a presentation titled "Poetry and the Community," given at the National Deaf Poetry Conference on September 25, 1987. The evening performance consists of the following poems: Black Hole: Colors ASL, Nature Metaphor, MIND POP-UP THAT (or So That's What That Was All About), The Void, I Raped Chocolate Last Night, LIFE FAST (or The Fast Pace of Life), Sunrise, Frog, Alien, Veal Boycott/Boycott Veal, Peace, and Willie. In this presentation, Debbie Rennie traces how she became a poet including her experiences in theatre. She explains a number of techniques she uses in poetry such as: descriptive and outline use of fingerspelling, playing with limited handshapes, rhythm, frozen images, transformations, choreography, speed, facial expression as well as other elements. In addition, she describes important aspects of storytelling which she identifies as character development, story line, building of expectation, and audience involvement. During this presentation, she performs Swan, Missing Children, a number of Haiku, a story about her roommate, and an excerpt from Kipling's Just So Stories. She ends her presentation talking about the dangers of labeling and judging the works of others as well as the importance of community support.