Yo-el Cassell doesn’t hear in the same way you or I or most other people do. He hears with his hands.

Cassell, a dancer and the artistic director of YC Movement Theater, was born with a hearing impairment that has turned out to be a blessing in many ways.

Sounds in Movement

Yo-el Cassell (MoonlightInterior.com)

“I often tell my family and friends that if I was not hearing-impaired, I don’t think I would be involved in the world of dance and movement.”

As a child, Cassell attended a school for the deaf and hearing impaired. There, he joined a creative movement class. “I felt so alive and so fulfilled, jumping around like a frog or sliding like a snake.”

Cassell, even as a child, knew that he’d fallen in love with the art of movement. He asked his parents to sign him up for ballet class, and from that point on, it was “true love.”

This love of dance and movement took Cassell to the Boston Conservatory. After training in dance, mime, and puppetry, he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1997. Since then, Cassell has undertaken so many projects that it seems his days must have extra hours.

Movement in Many Directions

In one of his endeavors, Cassell has performed with New York dance theater company Palissimo since its creation in 2003. Recently, he performed in Palissimo’s new show Blind Spot. The show opens with Cassell, alone onstage, communicating with the audience through sign-language.

Cassell’s personal resume includes a long list of roles in a medley of genres (read his extended biography here). When he’s asked to identify a particularly rewarding role, Cassell has trouble narrowing down the list. “I am blessed to continually be given the opportunity to create new roles,” he said, explaining that “dancing the classics such as Jose Limon’s There is a Time and then being able to do works based on Charlie Chaplin (who is one of my greatest inspirations as an artist) has allowed me to grow through versatility…I strongly recommend that dancers involve themselves in all aspects of the arts.”

Joy in Creation

As he delves more frequently into choreography, Cassell falls in love with his work every day.

“I absolutely love performing and getting a chance to be in character. Aside from the fulfillment in life that I receive from my beautiful wife, parents and family, there is no better way of living than being on a stage. I feel totally alive and truthful when I’m on the stage. But as I grow older, I realize that my true passion is creating and choreographing. To be able to create through movement, to realize images and share your journey through movement is the greatest thrill.”

Recently, Cassell’s love of creating, as well as his training in puppetry, came together for his role as Pinocchio in Gepetto & Son. Cassell said, “It is a movement-based role, and I had the pleasure of creating the movement myself for the role, so it felt very personal. I could definitely relate to the character…trying to please, trying to bring joy, and of course the common search of trying to find oneself.” Cassell went on to say that it was a creative challenge for him portray both Pinocchio’s outward transformation and his inward emotional journey. “The one rule I had for myself was: ‘…try not to impress the audience…impress the material, the moment at hand’.”

The Art of Gesture

Cassell tries to help his dancers and his audience experience the unique understanding of movement that he has gained through his lifelong hearing impairment. This effort is evident in his newest production. One of the main themes in this work: the use of one’s hands.

Cassell’s new presentation includes excerpts from his revised Moonlight Interior, a full evening-length work originally presented off-Broadway by YC Movement Theatre in 2005. In reworking the original Moonlight Interior, Cassell saw that they’d explored “the idea of how the hands led the movement from one moment to the next.”

For his new show, he is developing the idea that he found in Moonlight Interior, and he has created “a series of solos and duets that explore the different stories the hand can tell.” Some of Cassell’s inspiration for the “hands” motif, he explained, also came when he and his wife saw an exhibit at New York’s Museum of Modern Art that dealt with the use of hands. “That experience has never left us,” Cassell said.

On August 20, 2008, Cassell and his wife Melodie Jeffery-Cassell—who is a dancer and one of Cassell’s greatest inspirations—and YC Movement Theatre, will present excerpts from his work Moonlight Interior during a performance at The Depot Theatre in New York. Reviews that praised the original Moonlight Interior, called the work, “artistic, dramatic, humorous, moving, transporting and best of all, self revealing” (Boston Phoenix). Cassell says that his new production includes elements from Moonlight Interior, but also explores new themes. For Cassell, one of the most exciting aspects of this new work is being able to perform with his wife, which he describes as “a thrill.”

When It’s Just “Right”

Cassell’s love of dance and movement—a love that stemmed from what originally could be perceived as a hardship—make his work a joy.

“The wonderful thing about doing something you love is that it never feels like pressure,” Cassell said. “If there is any hint of pressure, I guess it would be that you want to be able to find the truest aspect of whatever material you’re presenting. I find myself changing things or developing things until it feels like… ‘ahh.” When it feels like ‘aah,’ then it feels right.”

Get to Know Yo-el

Cassell, Melodie Jeffery-Cassell, and YC Movement Theatre will present his new work on August 20 at The Depot Theatre in Westport, New York.

Cassell’s performance is part of The Depot Theatre’s “Tonight Only” performances, which include light refreshments before the show and a meet-and-greet with the artists after the show. Tickets to see Cassell, Jeffrey-Cassell, and YC Movement Theatre at The Depot Theatre on August 20 are only are $12 for reserved seating.

After August, keep an eye out for announcements on Moonlight Interior. Cassell is currently working on plans to present a longer run of the full, revised evening-length work.