I love my language! Both of them,
actually. I am more proficient at English (I was planning on majoring in
English in college), but I love American Sign Language just as much. So, when I
am told that a group is going to be performing in ASL, I'm definitely
interested!
The thing is,
sometimes I wonder who teaches and rehearses these groups, because more often
than not, I've found that if a group is going to perform a song in ASL, at
church or somewhere, there's a slight (or not so slight) discrepancy as to
whether or not it's true ASL.
ASL has many
components to it. Not the least of which is facial expressions. I mean,
seriously, can you truly express yourself in ASL with a stone, cold, immovable
face? Because that's what a lot of groups do. They want to look in sync with
each other, so they dress all in black and keep their faces blank through the
entire song. I don't know about others, but for me, it takes something away
from the beauty of ASL. It's not as clear and doesn't express the vitality of
sign language well.
