Artists from China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe perform at Beijing Exhibition Theater in Beijing, December 27, 2018. [Photo by Li Xuemin/chinadaily.com.cn]

There were group dances; some highly synchronized, like Never Stopped Dancing, others with complex sequences that required fluid transitions and interactions, like The Other Shore. The visual impressions, however, were the same: if not for the conductors gesturing on the stage wings, you wouldn't know the prancing artists are deaf and must rely on sign language to cue their internalized rhythm and pace. The requisite discipline behind such theatrical splendor was never spoken aloud but was heard in the mind of every audience member.