There are many ways to create change in society. I was considered a good girl; parents liked when my friends and I played together. I was always creating games for us to play, and we never caused trouble. However, I started rebelling against the existent order of things from a young age. I grew up in Bed-Sty Brooklyn. My friends and I were all connected to a hyphenated American culture. I was Sicilian/American, others were Maltese/American, South America/American, Puerta Rican/American and so on. When I asked my mother where the white people were, she told me they had money lived in Manhattan. Later, I realized that she meant Northern Italians, British, etc. When we met someone new, it was common to ask their heritage. No big deal.
So, it came as a shock when I introduced somebody new to the group and there was resistance. I had watched this girl looking out her window every day and she looked sad. I would cross the street and talk to her. We exchanged stories. I asked her to come play with us. She said her mom wouldn’t let come out. She had to watch her little brother. Well, my humble self, told her, don’t worry I will talk to your mother and convince her to let you play with us. And I did.
She was black; African-American. When she joined us, I was in for a shock. My friends would not play with her. Why this one hyphen bothered them, with all the mixtures we had, was beyond me. So, I played with my new friend, and let my other friends fend for themselves. I realized that, while I had other black friends before, I had played where they lived, not on my block.
After a very short while, my friends got over themselves and joined us. What helped was that I was the one that usually made-up new things to do, when they got bored. For example, I created a skating army. My mom worked in a sweat shop as a seamstress. Pay was low but one of the few benefits was that she could take home scraps of material that were too small to make clothes with. She made all of us these cute hats which we wore while skating. We were quite proud of our selves. I created routines (which I much, much later realized were choreographies). Having the hats made us feel connected.
The next run ins were with the Church (Catholic, of course). The earliest that I remembered occurred when I was about 7 years old. I told a priest from the parish that I wanted to be an altar boy. He said that couldn’t happen, but that I could be an altar girl. I asked him what altar girls did. He replied that they cleaned the altar linens. I responded angrily, that if I wanted to do housework, I would help my mother at home. I demanded that he give me the address of our local bishop. I was sure the priest was just against women and couldn’t believe that it was a rule of the Church. But, of course, it was. Many decades later, I went to Italy as a part of a Women’s Studies in Religion course. Gianluigi Gugliametto, a fellow student, set up a fabulous tour in Italy which included a church where nuns ran the services. The one exception was that a priest consecrated the host which the nuns distributed to the congregation. A step forward.
One last Catholic Church run in… When it came time for Confirmation, we had to choose a name for Confirmation. I chose Athena. The nun told me that it had to a saint’s name. I replied confidently that it was a Goddess name and wasn’t that better!? Umm…. None of them agreed. I was bummed. I ended up using the most common name Mary because I lost interest.
As I grew and learned, the manner of things I felt needed change expanded. I have marched, voted, attended rallies and I have signed petitions. I was squished against a chain link fence while police dogs threatened to maul us (during the Nixon administration). I was a founding member of the Black Student Union. It was by request. When they asked, I looked at them, pointed at my skin, and looked at them questioning. They said we know, but, ummmmm, we need to have a white person to get the Union OK’d. OH! So, you need me to be your token? They replied yeah…Sorry but we trust you. Do I have to go to many meetings? No, you don’t have to go to any, unless you want to. I said you have a deal.
But the action that has made the most impact, are the thirty something dance dramas I have created. All were created and performed at the Long Beach WomanSpirit Summer and Winter Solstice Faires. Some were performed also at MECDA (Middle Eastern Culture and Dance) events.
The arts are profound way to create change because they engage people in a way that is not dry and draw them into the story. With the dance dramas, our stories were danced, had dialogue, and always had an interactive part to include the audience. I usually added a give-away to help them continue the energy after the fair. This including of the audience gave them ownership to continue action the taken when they got home. What was nice is that at our regular meetings, they would let me know how things went.
The first or second one I created, I danced alone. It was for LBWS. A member of our community, who was overwhelmed attempted suicide. He, also, caused other problems. But, underneath, he was a good person. He had ended up in jail with no one to bail him out. He was very depressed.
I created a dance drama, where I was dressed in black, the sky cooperated by being overcast. I don’t remember the words that I used but my movements were sad and powerful. There were words first of sorrow, later moving into joy. At the point, when I pulled off my black dress, revealing the bright, multicolored skirt underneath, the clouds cleared, and the sun shone bright. I was amazed, the audience gasped, it was very powerful. By Monday, he was released from jail. This instilled in me a respect for the power of the arts to make change. Encouraged I went on to do two dance dramas a year, until the LBWS Faires ended.
One of my favorite dance dramas was based on Jalaluddin Rumi. A few years back, my troupe and I performed at a conference concentrating on the mystic Jalaluddin Rumi. It told the story of a connection between a present-day sacred dancer and the whirling of Dervishes of Rumi the mystic. It was performed for a Rumi Conference, at a university. It was open to the public but 90% of the attendees were Iranian professors. I suffered some nerves. I gave it all I had, and my dancers did great. The professors looked very solemn as they watched. Afterwards, I went to change into regular clothes and stayed longer than I had to because of that solemnity. Would they think that I was culturally appropriating the whirling, etc. etc.?
When I finally ventured out, one of the professors paid me a very high compliment. I was shocked and grateful. I told him that they had looked so solemn after we finished, that I thought I had done something wrong. He replied, No. We were just so shocked that you covered the whirling so well and did not try to fancy it up nor Westernize it. I was so relieved. It made me happy that I was always careful in my choice of teachers who instilled the importance of learning about people so when I used their arts, it came from knowledge and respect for their culture. As to how this is important to the theme of my paper. If I had not been conscious of the culture and just put on a fancy costume, it would have been a disaster. To make change you must be aware of what is actually happening, as well as how what you do will affect the situation.
Over the years, I have kept aware of what was happening in the world. I created dance dramas that I hope will awaken people to ways that change can be brought about. I tried to show that small steps can create major steps.