I was very lucky because in the last two years of high school, I transferred to the Model Secondary School for the Deaf. It was during the 1990s and they had a strong performing-arts program. I started to meet other deaf dancers.

What did that give you?

More motivation and incentive to stay true to my path as an artist considering I never had anyone to look up to. I had no role model. A deaf woman of color? Dancing?[Laughs] I had to go, O.K., if that’s not out there, I want to create it.

How do you bring yourself to the character?

This is me in my true element as an actor as a dancer. I have seven siblings. We’re all girls. There are seven women in the show, and I’m the only deaf person in the cast and in my family.

Are you generally very expressive when you sign?

Yes. I can turn it down and be less expressive. I’ve worked with [the contemporary choreographer] Heidi Latsky for a few years. She had a piece, “Somewhere,” inspired by different renditions of “Over the Rainbow.” I told her that I wanted to challenge the notion of signing, which often tends to look so very beautiful and pastoral and emotive and expressive. I wanted to see signing used in an urban manner. I wanted it to feel gritty, edgy and just bigger — more like an attack in a positive way, like in your face.

How did she work with you?

She worked with me on my expression. She said: “Don’t put it in your face. It’s not about putting on a show.” I understood, but it was a challenge because face is my voice. My expressions are my voice. But over time, it was freeing, because I was focusing on bringing American Sign Language and movement together.

How do you find rhythm without hearing the words?

Signing naturally has a lot of musicality within it. The challenge is determining which signs best honor the length of the text, because in Ntozake’s text you often see the slashes or you see space or an ampersand.