Exhausted. For many reasons—one major reason is all the anticipation and then execution of the One Billion Rising dance. The backdrop of which was absolute torrential rain, the bulb in my ceiling projector went out and can only be changed by maintenance which took half an hour to figure out and put into the works, and my underestimating (forgetting) how utterly self-conscious seventeen year olds are. Most of them simply would not dance. Odd. They seem so uninhibited otherwise.
This shift in tone for the day (though we still had our class work afterward) seemed to throw a few students off to the point of behavior issues. That was a bigger disappointment than the self-conscious inability to participate in the dancing.
At this high school, we have a small population of extreme developmental needs students and I invited them to join us for the “official” dance at noon. That was a great experience to have them integrate and mix with us to dance our solidarity to end violence against women and girls world wide. Again, on a cognitive level, how much did they understand seems less important than that they were included.
How much my own students fully understand is also unknown. I can only hope that a door was wedged open even just a little bit, and that an increasingly bright light is shining through which may one day expand into interest and involvement and a heart to change the world for the better....
During the earlier classes this week in preparation, one student made the connection that dance brings unity because it means we are all on the same level, there is no hierarchy—especially if we hold each other’s hands, then we are all the same. Another student recognized how dance symbolizes freedom. In one level (3 classes) we’re studying “Dancing at Lughnasa” by Brian Friel and connections were made between the whole world dancing together to make a change whereas in Friel’s play the sisters are dancing in the figurative representation of their ultimate unity, unaware that it will be their last “dance” before everything in their lives will change (1936 Ballybeg, County Donegal). In the other level (4 classes) we’re studying “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller, which brings to mind how women were viewed by society and the Puritan church, making them more susceptible to being victims in the accusations and beliefs about witchcraft. Losing their lives as a result is the ultimate violence.
I am moved by the thought that both of these stories are “true” in that they are shaped from actual historical events. This has given me the opportunity to teach both classes how a story teller has the responsibility (desire as well as tools and techniques) to shape reality into the art of a story—whether it’s a play, a novel, short story, or film—in such a way as to move the audience to feel something, to relate, to learn. We remember what we feel. Empathy is born from the pathos of our stories. This is perhaps becoming more critical in an age when young people are more physically isolated from each other, connecting primarily through social media networks that can be so isolating and engender a false identity, a putting on of a front.... Story, in the world of fiction, is becoming more necessary and more powerful in filling the gap needed to engender empathy and the desire to connect with one another (we just finished “Howards End” by E.M.Forster with that as a major theme, of course) globally as well as locally. If “safety” is in large part borne of our familiarity and connection in community then learning more about each other through story engenders that safety, creates the resonant feelings that connect us.
Another connection for me personally to the One Billion Rising is the connection already mentioned earlier about Valentine’s Day and the show of love through taking a stand in solidarity. Also, it is the first day of Lent, the first day of the celebration of coming Spring. What better day to speak up world wide in dance to say enough is enough—time to insist on a change that will bring new life, new hope, new days free of the fear of violence.
So all in all, I guess it was a good day—a hopeful day when I reflect on it this way!
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