Chris Corsini has provided ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation for concerts by Jay Z, Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, Panic! At The Disco, Camila Cabello, Thomas Rhett, and Shawn Mendes.
“I want to bring attention to the art that we're creating," says Corsini, “so that Beyoncé's team, or Gaga's team, or someone huge says, 'Wow, this really is the right thing to do, and these people know how to do it! Let's invite them on board to try to figure out how to make our concerts and our videos more accessible."
Now, heis on a mission to revolutionize accessibility and inclusivity for Deaf, LGBTQ and BIPOC in arts and entertainment, and in spiritual communities.
As a certified ASL Interpreter, Corsini has interpreted live performances for numerous pop stars but he is also an artist himself. As MDL CHLD (Middle Child), Corsini integrates Deaf community members both in front and behind the camera, normalizing ASL and captioned content, and prioritizing his own LGBTQ+ community and BIPOC people.
“Funk (About You)" by MDL CHLD on PRBLM CHLD Records is the latest in a series of uplifting, empowering videos that Corsini says are unambiguously “about finding the people you vibe with and letting go of those who do not serve or motivate you."
The mega-inclusive “Funk (About You)" features an international mix of LGBTQ, Deaf, and BIPOC from Europe, Africa and North and South America both in front and behind the camera. (Corsini is from Toronto, but currently lives in Lisbon. More about cast of the “Funk" video below.)
Corsini is a former competitive dancer, and he is gay, but not Deaf; he is also a talented tarot card reader, energy healer and astrologer with over 385k Instagram followers. He uses ASL and English to run accessible online “pay what you can" meditation workshops. "I want to attract people with really cool inclusive, art, music and videos, so I can teach them how balance their energies and let go of their traumas and heartbreaks."
About the “Funk (About You)" Video
Those in front of the camera include two trans women: Lola Herself, the face of the current Levi's® Portugal Pride Campaign who was recently featured for her second time in Vogue Portugal and Babaya Samambaia, a semi-finalist on “Portugal's Got Talent."
Also seen in the video is Alessio Convito, a Deaf, Italian-born Canadian immigrant, visual artist, International Sign news anchor for Deaf news/media platform H3 World TV, and an instructor with QTIBPOC Deaf artists advocacy, Phoenix the Fire.
Behind the camera credits include Deaf artist Alexa Hickox, who created the zippy animated captions and Deaf ASL coach and Phoenix the Fire founder, Gaitrie Persaud, who also appeared in the previous MDL CHLD “#DFWY (Don't Fuck With You)" video along with queer Canadian Deaf Olympian Natasha Bacchus (aka Courage).
All are LGBTQ except for featured vocalist Nicole D'Amato, a cis woman and advocate for human rights,