Rochester, N.Y.- A sign language graduate from NTID is the hottest new thing on the internet thanks to a video of her signing at a recent hip-hop concert.
Last week, Holly Maniatty, 32, was hired as a sign language interpreter at a Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop concert at a music and arts festival in Tennessee.
The video of her swaying to the beat while signing in a brisk fashion to keep up with the lyrics in front of the stage soon went viral.
It was even shown on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“I was totally asleep, and then all of a sudden I got this rash of phone calls,” Maniatty said.
An entertainment website called her “Music’s Hottest ASL Interpreter.”
Maniatty, who lives in Maine, graduated from the American Sign Language English interpretation program at Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf in 2000.
“So far, the feedback I’ve gotten has been mostly positive,” Maniatty said of her recent stardom.
She started interpreting at music festivals and concerts more than 10 years ago and has signed at 150 concerts ranging from “little church concerts” to Marilyn Manson, Phish, U2 and Mumford & Sons.
“The first time I did a hip-hop concert, I probably spent 100 hours getting ready for a two-hour show,” she said. “I love hip-hop music, but it’s a challenge for an interpreter.”
“I think part of the reason this clip went viral is because it is fairly unique to see a sign language interpreter in this genre of music,” said Linda Siple, a professor in NTID’s ASLIE program. “It is an exciting time for deaf people in that they now have access to so many aspects of hearing culture.”
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Filed under: Interpreter Careers, Language Access, Language Barriers, Sign Language Interpreters Tagged: Interpreters for the Deaf, Language Barriers, Sign Interpreters, Sign Language
