Dear Supporters,
Given the terrible violence and injustices against People of the Global Majority(aka POC) in our midst, it is even more important that we use the arts and our community connections to metabolize and transform our pain and rage into solution-based action. I can’t help but look at the Piñata for inspiration once again… as we are clearly smashing open the external facades, breaking open our hearts and tearing apart old paradigms- This is part of the re-evolution. We are becoming human again. As much as it hurts, and as much work as its going to take personally, collectively and politically… I feel hopeful. Hopeful that the lives taken by the un-human police brutality in the U.S. and in Mexico, are finally, not completely in vain. It appears to me that these lives, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Andy Lopez, Ayotzinapa 43…with the support of community activism, are changing the way people think. Many more people are finally waking up to the realities of racism and what white privilege is all about in the U.S. and the abuse of power in Mexico is directly related to corruption of US tactics over decades. Thank you to all of the protesters who are putting their bodies on the front lines to stand, sit, sing, chant or lay down for what they believe in. And, of course to all those who have been fighting this fight for the last 500 years.
Afia Walking Tree and Friends, Dec. 2014
Last Saturday, I performed on the stage with Afia Walking Tree & Friends at the Community Center in Sebastopol, Ca. 1 hour north of Oakland. Before going on stage, I couldn’t talk to anyone, I only felt submerged in all of the anger and sadness and seriousness of life right now. But when I got on stage with those hawk wings in my hands, I just went for it. I let them fly me and transform my negativity into power and strength. I used the energy of my madness- the worlds madness- and danced, raged, stomped, pounced, shook, spun, sang and howled… we went wild and strong with the powerful beat of Afia’s drum. Then, after a few more minutes, I took the mic and prayed for peace with my Navajo flute while Afia, Deb, Larissa and Marchelle played the drums.
Meghan Ballog, Piñata Benefit Showing, May 2014
This is the time for artists to emerge like a phoenix out of the fire to transmute the sorrow into beauty. Or, as I have said of artists in the past, “we are the mushrooms (the immune system) of the planet, we absorb the toxins of the earth and turn it into medicine..into beauty”. Have you been paying attention to your artistry at this time? Have you found a way to express your rage in a good way? Artists are stronger and more needed right now, because the world needs our medicine…and its not about “who’s who” on stage anymore… its about change, resiliency and freedom for the earth and for her inhabitants. Consider scheduling a 1:1 Somatic Expressive Movement session with me.
!FLACC! Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, Oct. 2014
Thank you for supporting the Piñata Dance Collective in 2014. I shared an amazing year with a lot of incredible artivists in the SF Bay Area and in Guadalajara, MX. Our next Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers !FLACC! is finding its 2015 home. So far, we have a deep embrace from the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts in SF, the California Institute of Integral Studies and support from the Zellerbach Family Fund.
Click here to connect to the DONATE page in support of Piñata Dance Collective this holiday season.
Con Amor y Paz, Liz
Guadalupe’s Angel- Liz Boubion 2009
