Dear friends,
If you're reading this, you know that the passion that guides my life-- through work, pleasure, analysis, growth and spirit-- is dance. The thoughtful, structured, soulful and expressive movement of the human body. While I performed mostly in the worlds of classical and neoclassical ballet (and know the most about those specific forms), the concept of dance in any form, in any context, and by any body is my undercurrent.
Almost none of you know about my other strong interests: the organization and planning of urban spaces, and prison reform.
(Writing is another one, yes.)
Dancing and movement are, to me, inalienable human rights. Yet in prison, physical movement is restricted, locked down, taken away. It is seen as a threat, precisely because it IS such a powerful expressive tool. And yet it is what a person, especially an incarcerated one, can use to get out of their internal prison.
In 2018, two prisoners in California State Prison started doing hip hop moves in the jail yard. They were just goofing around, but got the idea to propose a class for other inmates, teaching hip hop, as part of the prison's rehabilitative program. It was approved, they did it, and thanks to the relative enlightenment of the Cal State Prison system, eventually a "real" dance teacher and choreographer came on board. The men produced their own work and performed for invited guests in November, 2022.
Brian Seibert of the New York Times went to Chino, CA, to watch classes, interview the inmate dancers, and watch the show. He wrote about it for the Times a few weeks ago. I have read and re-read his piece, each time blown away by how many truths are clearly evident in this confluence of humanity.
No, I have never been in jail. But I can relate strongly to these men. The reasons why they are dancing are very much the same as why I did and do. What they feel, what they gain, are what I have felt and gained. Physical freedom is emotional and spiritual freedom, and physical restriction-- whether imposed by societal pressures or bars and handcuffs-- only locks down a route to self-empowerment.
If we, as a society and as a species, want to hold people accountable for crimes and discourage them or anyone from future wrongdoing against others, giving them the chance to use dance as their real firepower is not a bad idea.
I can't help but think about what these peoples' lives might have been like if only they'd discovered dance before going to prison.
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