My friends, Paul David Leopoulos and his wife, Linda, created the THEA Foundation after their lovely teen age daughter was killed by a drunk driver.\u00a0 Thea’s academic and whole high school experience had been enlivened by her introduction to and participation in The Arts.\u00a0 Paul David and Linda wanted to honor Thea’s memory by offering that same artful expansion to other students in their home state of Arkansas. I’ve seen the profound impact of their arts programs on their state.\u00a0 As I try to describe the many ways that ART WORKS…I assess that “dance is the way the body spells.”\u00a0 People have observed for decades that my proprietary lettering style appears to “dance across a page.”\u00a0 Yep.\u00a0 That’s right.\u00a0 Dance was the inspiration for my lettering.\u00a0 The characters dance in a line across the page.\u00a0 Just the way a body spells a sentiment using its own form and the floor.<\/p>\n
You may have read (or may not!) or heard that five people were arrested over the Memorial Day week end for dancing in the Jefferson Memorial\u00a0 They were protesting the same such arrest that occurred in 2008 in which folks were arrested for dancing in the Memorial while listening to music on headphones.\u00a0 That arrest occurred near midnight with no public eye.\u00a0 The demonstration of quiet dance, staged at the Memorial this week end, was intended to be caught on film and be placed in the public eye.\u00a0 As an objection.\u00a0 A demonstration against an injustice.<\/p>\n
I have observed that in any cultural oppression, spanning the centuries, the first expression to be taken away from a culture\/society is its artistic, artful expression.\u00a0 This Jefferson Memorial episode may seem like a small event to you but it’s indicative of a larger, and more concerning issue.<\/p>\n
Art saves lives.\u00a0 Art enlivens.\u00a0 Art defines a community, a tribe, a culture.\u00a0 When we look to understand ancient civilizations one of the first measures to consider (and the measure that consistently survives) is the art of that society.\u00a0 How we articulate our cultural identity through\u00a0 art, of all forms, is a defining characteristic of our country.\u00a0 ANY country.
\nIt is ironic that these arrests took place in the Memorial honoring the\u00a0 champion of personal freedom and the President known to have said, “A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.”<\/p>\n
I am known by my friends to be given to fits of unanticipated dance – just about any where.\u00a0 Is it even conceivable that I could be arrested for that genuine, authentic expression of my joy?\u00a0 Last week I would have found it unlikely that such a thing would occur in my country.\u00a0 And today, I am saddened to acknowledge that it has. \u00a0 These individuals were not just spontaneously dancing as a personal expression.\u00a0 They were dancing in the Jefferson Memorial to make a larger statement.<\/p>\n
Pinochet’s cruel rule over Chile comes to mind.\u00a0 And the women whose husbands, sons and fathers just “disappeared,” from their lives stood in the only way they could.\u00a0 Silently.\u00a0 With dance.\u00a0 They could not speak but they allowed their physical frame to cry out against the injustice they experienced.\u00a0 They danced.\u00a0 And danced.\u00a0 They danced to stave their loss and to speak for justice.\u00a0 And finally, the world noticed.<\/p>\n
Will the world notice five people who were arrested in Washington, D.C. for dancing? Will they note the harsh and violent way the arrests were conducted?\u00a0 The more important question I want to ask is, “Have you?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My friends, Paul David Leopoulos and his wife, Linda, created the THEA Foundation after their lovely teen age daughter was killed by a drunk driver.\u00a0 Thea’s academic and whole high school experience had been enlivened by her introduction to and participation in The Arts.\u00a0 Paul David and Linda wanted to honor Thea’s memory by offering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[186,183,182,185,181,184,187],"class_list":["post-503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unexpected","tag-chile","tag-dancing","tag-people-arrested-for-dancing","tag-pinochet","tag-police-arrest-5-people-at-jefferson-memorial","tag-public-protest","tag-thea-foundation"],"yoast_head":"\n