Some Thoughts From the Director About the Work

Rage. Rage is a protection mechanism. Every mammal has rage. It’s an emotion we feel when our boundaries are being transgressed and we need to protect ourselves. If we are able to express what needs to be expressed at the moment of transgression, the emotion processes and leaves the body. If not, the emotion stays stuck within us and finds other less desirable and more destructive avenues of expression. I think we need more spaces where we can safe-ly channel and release unexpressed rage. And maybe we’ll find the grief that lies beneath…or does focusing on rage create more rage? Rage. We live in a rage-inducing world because we have been taught to fear and mistrust our expressions. Whether they be expressions of curiosity, sensuality, anger, rage, grief, love—for various reasons we have learned to fear our expressions. And this leads to repression—instead of expression—of our emotions. And this repression leads to spiritual starvation. We (or should I say “I”?) crave connection. Connection comes through sharing—through showing—through expressing who we are. So what happens when we don’t express who we are? Rage. But who are we? We all have stories. Our stories carry meaning; they are impactful. I am a woman. I am white. I am sober. I am an artist. I am a survivor of sexual violence. I am a snake. But is this who I am? No…and yes. I am beyond these stories yet these stories shape my expe-rience. What am I without my stories? And why do I become attached to stories that disem-power me? I take the story to battle. What else is true? What about the stories that empower me? Rage. I am a student of Hip Hop and House dance culture. Hip Hop and House—like many practices coming out of the African diaspora—are tools for progressive transformation. Hip Hop emerged as a means to transform the rage of oppression into dance, music, painting, spoken word and expression. Hip Hop is about expressing oneself fully within the container of the community. The individual is nothing without the community. I am a student of this practice and philosophy…and I feel like a total loner most of the time. Subtle Rage. What you are about to witness is not one thing, it is many. A single moment with-in a process of transformation in which our stories of victimhood re-emerge as…something else.

Special Thanks

The VDA Dance Residency program has blessed me and my team with an incredible opportunity to create this work. My gratitude is beyond words. I want to give a huge shoutout to my team of sensational artists; each artist has brought their unique contributions to the table and the piece would be nothing without their collaborative effort. This piece originated as an en-semble of six performers, and tonight we will be sharing a trio version. I want to thank Alex Cobb, Katie Corkum, and Schivona Johnson who have been integral to this work but are not performing tonight. 

This project is supported in part by the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Community Foundation, and New England Foundation for the Arts.