For the first concert of her life, Camille Coti, 74, deaf from birth, was able to dance on Sunday July 30 in Ajaccio, feeling the vibrations of the songs of the Belgian singer Angèle thanks to a special vest. “It’s very powerful, very strong, really good! I especially feel the vibrations in the rib cage, ”describes the septuagenarian in sign language that Léana Barrazza, 23, translates.
With a smile on her lips and hands twirling around her face, Camille undulates to the rhythm thanks to one of the five Subpac vests acquired by the Collectivity of Corsica. The regional institution claims to be “the first territory in France” to have purchased, for a total of 12,000 euros, this equipment which makes it possible to feel low and low sounds in the form of vibrations.
Originally, these vests, made by the American-Canadian company Timmpi, were designed to increase the sensations of video game players or virtual reality moviegoers. “It’s my first concert and the first time that I want to dance while feeling the vibrations”, says Camille Coti to whom it brings back memories. “When I was young, I went to nightclubs, there was a lot of bass, I got closer to the speakers to feel them. I also had that with drums”, she recalls, believing that these vests “open up perspectives”.
“It’s a moment of inclusion and sharing. Seeing them start dancing is moving,” says Antonia Luciani, executive adviser in charge of culture at the Corsican community. These five vests, weighing 1.2 kg each, are available for 17 concerts this summer through the Pôle deafness association in Corsica, the only association for the 600 deaf people on the Mediterranean island.
Alongside Camille, Karima Mouro, 53 years old and also deaf from birth, says she is living “a rare moment”. “It’s really good, the feelings are progressing little by little. I have already been in concert but I did not feel anything apart from vibrations by the feet whereas there, I take advantage of the concert much better with the vest, ”she describes. “I feel all the music, I want to dance”.
Angélique Antonini, diagnosed as deaf at 18 months, accompanies her ten-year-old daughter, Stella, who is hearing and absolutely wanted to see Angèle. “I wanted to please her, accompany her and also feel the same as her. With the vest, I feel integrated,” she explains. “I can feel the rhythm precisely, I think I can feel the instruments and it’s really amazing,” she explains, adding that “with hearing aids, all the extraneous noise is not filtered out, so you hear a hubbub that prevents you from concentrating on the music”.
Angélique has already tested the vest during a concert of violins: “I thought to myself ‘oh okay, that’s how each type of violin works and the vibration that each made me feel'”. As for the dance, she confides that, until now, the incitement was related to the “environment”: “If I saw people dancing, I also danced by mimicry; but with the vest it comes to me on its own because I feel the rhythm, from the neck to the thighs”. For Léana, a young, hearing woman whose two parents are deaf, these vibrating vests are also “an opportunity for the deaf to be there, to tell themselves that they have the right to come to concerts”.
At the end of the Belgian star’s highly choreographed show in front of 6,000 conquered spectators, Camille, Karima and Angélique agree on one word: “formidable”. Even if Camille is not sure to renew the experience, except, perhaps, for Florent Pagny who wrote a song in sign language. Other deaf people will be able to benefit from vests on Wednesday for Michel Polnareff’s concert at the Aio festival in Ajaccio.
