NTID Theatre History: Academic Year 2010-2011

James "JJ" Jones was born in Kansas City, Missouri and has been deaf since birth, but can partially hear with his hearing aid.  He first discovered "pantomime" at an early age by watching the Red Skelton Show, which was not telecaptioned (cc) at that time.  "JJ" first performed mime in school around the age of 10.

JJ Jones, known professionally as "JJ," honed his mime skills just before graduating from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, NY, attending workshops with renowned artists such as Claude Kipnis, Keith Berger, Dimitri, Bernard Bragg, and Francisco Reynders, as well as observing the legendary Marcel Marceau. He fulfilled a lifelong dream by meeting both Red Skelton and Marcel Marceau in person. JJ performs a wide range of mime programs, from street performances to multimedia presentations, and conducts workshops for schools and colleges. He has performed extensively across the United States at schools, state fairs, and Deaf events, including Deaf Expos, Deaf Celebration, Deaf Awareness Day, and Deaf Way II, the International Deaf Conference in Washington, D.C. in 2002. Internationally, he has performed at the first annual World of Mime in Paris, France, honoring Marcel Marceau, and at World Deaf Day in Bordeaux, France. For over 15 years, JJ has been a mime instructor at Maple Woods Community College in North Kansas City, Missouri, teaching in the Interpreter Training Program, and he is passionate about teaching mime to children and student interpreters. He earned an Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) in Architectural Technology from 1974 to 1977.

L to R: Joe Hamilton (Stagecraft Manager), Nic Shaw, J.J. Jones, and Matt Parsley

Dr. Luane Davis Haggerty and the Sign-mime class