The
star who went viral after the Bonnaroo Music Festival wasn't any of the
headliners -it was the woman who danced along with them. Holly Maniatty
is a sign language interpreter, a professional who works all kinds of
concerts. Rap shows are a special challenge as the words fly fast and
are often freestyle, wandering far from the recorded version. Maniatty
holds her own interpreting on the fly, but she also does plenty of
research beforehand. She talked about her first rap show, for the
Beastie Boys in 2009.
To prepare for the show,
Maniatty says she logged more than 100 hours of research on the Beastie
Boys, memorizing their lyrics and watching past shows. Her prep work
also includes researching dialectal signs to ensure accuracy and
authenticity. An Atlanta rapper will use different slang than a Queens
one, and ASL speakers from different regions also use different signs,
so knowing how a word like guns and brother are signed in a given region
is crucial for authenticity.
Signing a rap show requires more
than just literal translation. Maniatty has to describe events,
interpret context, and tell a story. Often, she is speaking two
languages simultaneously, one with her hands and one with her mouth, as
she’ll sometimes rap along with the artists as well. When a rapper
recently described a run-in with Tupac, Maniatty rapped along while
making the sign for hologram, so deaf fans would know the reference was
to Tupac’s holographic cameo at Coachella, not some figment of the
rapper's imagination.
Read more about Maniatty's work at
Slate.
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