Among the performers of music, vaudeville and storytelling at Hawaii's Deaf Celebration will be, from top, Big Bob, Ed Chevy and Rita Corey (costumed).

What's more, those who know believe deaf artists have advantages over hearing artists in terms of movement and expression, and these artists will be out to prove it at Hawaii's Deaf Celebration Saturday at Kapiolani Community College. This will be Hawaii's first festival on the language, culture and arts of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, staged for a hearing audience.

The celebration's purpose, said Chevy, entertainer and special projects coordinator for the event, is to dispel misconceptions about the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, which in Hawaii numbers 70,000 to 80,000.

Chevy, who can hear up to 60 percent of sounds with a hearing aid, and who communicates through speech and American Sign Language, said that hearing people often change their tone of voice when they learn he is deaf. They start speaking in a manner a cut above baby talk.

"They think we're slow. That's a misconception because of a long association with mental retardation, the link between 'deaf and dumb,' " he said.

"We emphasize the celebration is not for us but for you, to teach you, educate you. We have culture. We have folklore, creative movement and body language."

In fact, deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences often characterize hearing performers as uptight, and hearing performers are among the fans of deaf and hard-of-hearing performers.

"Hearing performers always tell me our shows are very visual, that we have beautiful expression, and they say, 'We cannot have that. When we sing we have that in our voices.' It's the rest of their bodies that are dead."

The day celebration will feature mini ASL classes and displays, then from 7 to 10 p.m. there will be performances by local and nationally acclaimed artists Rita Corey and Nathie Marbury.

Chevy's act combines aspects of storytelling, mime, Hawaiian regional sign language and sign music, involving interpretation of songs through movement.

Hawaiian regional sign was developed in the '60s, patterned after, but more comprehensive than hula movements. The language is set to contemporary Hawaiian music, which Chevy says has more of a beat than Hawaiian music of the '20s and '30s.

It is through the bass and drumbeat that the deaf and hard-of-hearing feel their way through a performance, so monitors on stage will be turned up. Hearing audiences will be able to hear the music at normal performance levels, so need not bring ear plugs.

For Chevy, it's a switch from his college days, when as a member of Beethoven's Dream, he and his bandmates interpreted Beethoven tunes on guitars, bass and drum. "We played so loud that the deaf and hard-of-hearing loved us, but the hearing crowd would walk away."

Chevy considers himself lucky to have grown up in a family of deaf and hard-of-hearing entertainers, who understood his needs. Other deaf children, he said, are kept "in the closet."

"Some of them are told they cannot use American Sign Language, that they have to learn to speak. Others are told, 'A deaf person, speak? How embarrassing. It's like an animal.' "

He's met people who are convinced that the deaf are incapable of higher education and must be placed into specially created jobs as soon as they are old enough to work.

Technology is helping to free the deaf and hard of hearing from stigmas of the past, whether it is through teletype devices that allow the deaf to use the phone, or flashing lights built into homes that alert residents to phone calls or visitors at the door. But it is people who will ultimately build the bridge, like a rainbow, to and from our parallel universes.

All it takes is one person in a crowd reaching out. The deaf celebration, for instance, was to have been a small show, but got a boost from Mayor Jeremy Harris' wife Ramona, who, because she once had a co-worker who was deaf, took the time to learn ASL. Ramona is the honorary chairperson for the celebration.

Said Chevy, "Once I was walking around with a hearing person and I saw a rainbow, and I asked, 'Can you hear that rainbow?' And he said no.

"And I said, 'You can hear thunder, you can hear waterfalls, you can hear howling wind. We cannot hear those things, but we can see rainbows, and to us, that's a beautiful thing."

What: Festival on the Language, Culture and Arts of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Community with mini sign language and drama classes, exhibitions, food and crafts
When: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Kapiolani Community College Ohia Building
Cost: Day only, $6 advance or $7 at door; performance only, $8 advance or $9 at the door; combo ticket $12
Call: 926-4763