There are many issues of which I am passionate about \u2013 gender equality, racial equality \u2013 basically equal rights for everyone.\u00a0 It is these issues that fuelled my passion for choreography – a venue for my activism.\u00a0 Now what many people today do not realize is that I was chastised and penalized for mixing art with politics for many years.\u00a0 You weren\u2019t suppose to make political or social statements.<\/p>\n
I started working with disabled artists about a decade ago.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a conscious choice – the opportunity presented itself \u2013 I was interested – so I pursued it.\u00a0 I met a man named Fritz who was confined to a wheelchair.\u00a0 Working with Fritz was the beginning of opening new doors for me.\u00a0 It challenged my own perceptions.\u00a0 The work that I created on Fritz was made to challenge other people\u2019s perceptions.\u00a0 I created a duet for Fritz and one of my able-bodied dancers Theresa \u2013 a duet created entirely on the floor using Fritz\u2019s physical abilities as our source of movement vocabulary.\u00a0 Midway through the creative process, Theresa and Fritz asked if we could create another section \u2013 one that used Fritz\u2019s wheelchair.\u00a0 Their intuition was perfect.\u00a0 The final result was a duet that took place on the floor, a blackout and when the lights came back up on the stage, the audience saw Fritz and Theresa in his chair.\u00a0 The audible gasp always filled me with delight as did the post-performance talk.\u00a0 Most of the audience didn\u2019t realize that Fritz was disabled until they saw the chair \u2013 which brings me to my point.\u00a0 If you can see a person for what they truly are without getting distracted by physical impediments \u2013 then you\u2019re on your way to a better society.\u00a0 This production did not come off without hitches along the way.\u00a0 The arts council and my peers questioned my motives.\u00a0 They felt that I was using Fritz to further my own agenda.\u00a0 They questioned my using Fritz in publicity for the performance.\u00a0 I publicize every featured performer in my company \u2013 publicizing Fritz\u2019s performance was the same.\u00a0 It treated him as the equal that he is.\u00a0 You can\u2019t dodge issues just because some people want to see an ulterior motive in your actions.\u00a0 Those that want to see the bad in you will find it.<\/p>\n
Anyone who thinks that women hold an equal position in our society is an idiot \u2013 pure and simple.\u00a0 Sure we have made advances but the fact that I have been paid less than a man doing the same job still speaks volumes.\u00a0 When I go to a rent a space and the real estate agent or landlord talks to the men with me rather than to me – then there is still a problem.\u00a0 I once decided to put some of these thoughts into a production that I was doing using actors and dancers.\u00a0 One of the final lines for one of the actresses was \u201cI believe in equal pay for men and women and I am willing to go along with men making more than women as long as we call it like it is.\u00a0 Give me and my male co-worker the same pay and give his penis its bonus directly.\u201d\u00a0 I still chuckle over how many people in the audience would visibly cringe.\u00a0 Probably because I used the word \u201cpenis\u201d.<\/p>\n
All of us judge others \u2013 it is human nature and almost impossible to avoid.\u00a0 What I think is important to remember is that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 No one is perfect and everyone has something that they are good at.\u00a0 Sometimes it takes time to find, but it is there.\u00a0 Fighting (and I don\u2019t mean physical fighting which is just plain wrong) is not a bad thing if it leads to constructive discussion.\u00a0 Fighting doesn\u2019t mean that you have created enemies for life.\u00a0 Almost everyone in my life is someone that I\u2019ve had a pretty good fight with.\u00a0 From those fights, I have learned what makes them strong, what makes them weak and what makes them human.\u00a0 Everyone has fears and apprehensions about some other people in the world.\u00a0 The key is not to embrace and feed that fear, but to meet that fear head on.\u00a0 Learn about that culture.\u00a0 Study their history, read the works of their writers, listen to their politicians and activists, study their religions.\u00a0 Do all these things and I will guarantee that while you may not want to live like them, you will develop an understanding and respect for them.\u00a0 I am a North American.\u00a0 I live in a society that prides itself on multiculturalism and \u201cmelting pot\u201d ethic.\u00a0 I love those ideals and at the same time, I realize that we have not reached the ultimate goal of pure racial, gender and ethnic harmony.\u00a0 I live in hope that we will someday reach that goal \u2013 which is why I fight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are many issues of which I am passionate about – gender equality, racial equality – basically equal rights for everyone. It is these issues that fuelled my passion for choreography – a venue for my activism. Now what many … Continue reading