How Nyle DiMarco Changed The World Through Dance

Can this dance help settle the controversial debate on how to raise Deaf Children?

A Symbol Of Progress

When Dancing With the Stars awarded Nyle the Mirror Ball on the 22nd Dancing With the Stars Finale, it felt like the right end to an inspirational season for millions of viewers. There's no doubt that the victory- and the wildly popular Nyle DiMarco - gave the Deaf Community a watershed moment. A symbol of progress, but perhaps not the kind you might think.

If comedian Chris Rock were bold enough to make a Deaf joke, he might say something similar to what he said when Barack Obama was first elected president in 2008, disagreeing with people who said it was a sign of "black progress".

Nyle made the DWTS finals because he took the kind of risks that many of the other celebrity amateur dancers would never take week in and week out. He danced without music one week, blindfolded the next, and with a male (a DWTS first) in a different week.

When Nyle advanced to the finals, my wife and I immediately booked tickets to go. We had to be there, not just because we're Deaf like Nyle, but because like many others, we share the same life experience as him. For millions of Americans, this was the first time they got to know a Deaf person, not to mention someone who is secure, confident and proud of their identity. Nyle is no outlier, many Deaf people in our community believe that our accomplishments in life are owed to the fact that we are Deaf, not in spite of our deafness.

The Sound of Silence

The Deaf have made progress in society, but we are still trapped in a postcolonial period stemming from darker days. That experience- the Deaf Experience – has given us a viewpoint on this world that is unique, contributes tremendous value to the collective Human Experience whether we realize it or not and more importantly, can be taught. Nyle chose to share this story for one of his final performances, a freestyle interpretive dance.

Choreographed in two parts, the dance first took a look back to the days when Deaf people were experimented on with torturous medical procedures, not allowed to attend school, work, drive or even have children. Nyle's dance partner – who is hearing – pulls Nyle down to the floor in the beginning of the dance before writhing into a fetal position as the piano on stage suddenly burst into flames. Like a Phoenix, it was Peta Murgatroyd – not Nyle DiMarco - who was born again.

Flames cracked and danced on the piano keys, every hair on my body stood up and the smoldering heat shook an icy chill down my spine. Choreography moved away from darker days and I, along with millions of other Americans watched as the chains and barriers– seemingly invisible on stage but literal to me and every other person who shares our experience- were broken. Here again it was Peta- appropriately and subtly- who first broke and rushed to the ready-and-waiting arms of Nyle for a soaring lift. And just like that, the flutter of a butterfly's wings set a tsunami in motion.

Where To Go From Here

The Deaf and Hearing community are fighting an invisible war over how to raise Deaf children. Hearing parents of Deaf Children struggle with choosing from options like cochlear implants, ASL education, speech therapy and more. Do we treat Deaf Children through medical and pathological means, or do we treat them with empathy and understanding? The debate is fierce and no matter what side you are on, it is confusing and crosses into moral ethics grounds that can be too heavy to comprehend. In the end though, universal lessons apply here: Before you can love another, you must first love yourself.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba hit it on the head when she said after the Sound of Silence routine that Nyle has proved that the world can be changed through dance. She could not be more right.

Change the world, not the Deaf.

Via youtube.com

Nyle DiMarco promotes bilingualism in a symbolic performance. Scientific research shows that without both ASL and English, language acquisition in a Deaf Child is delayed and lifelong education suffers.