{"id":70212,"date":"2018-04-16T10:54:02","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T15:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=70212"},"modified":"2018-04-16T10:54:02","modified_gmt":"2018-04-16T15:54:02","slug":"survivors-of-sexual-violence-find-an-outlet-in-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/survivors-of-sexual-violence-find-an-outlet-in-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Survivors of Sexual Violence Find an Outlet in Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Juliette Rocheleau<\/strong>
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n

Rory Beckett is 4 feet 11 inches tall, but as she thrashes her whole body to headbang, the shadows from her whipping hair tower over the stage. <\/p>\n

When Beckett arrived for her performance at the Playground Theater, she had no plan for what she would do; only that she would dance to The Cranberries\u2019 \u201cZombie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat feels really good right now is that I cannot think of most of the thoughts that went through my mind as I was performing,\u201d said Beckett a few days later. \u201cI just let my body do what it wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beckett\u2019s performance closed Monday night\u2019s show \u201cResilient,\u201d a monthly exhibition for survivors of sexual violence.
\n[vimeo 265000936 w=640 h=360]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing I would want to do is to tell someone who\u2019s experienced sexual violence what they need to make art about,\u201d said Freddy-May AbiSamra, the show\u2019s creator and co-producer. \u201cOften times as survivors, we either are asked not to bring that part of ourselves into our artistic space, or we are asked to bring just that part of ourselves, to perform victimhood in a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n

AbiSamra started the show in October 2017 to offer a creative outlet for survivors. Ranging from improv comedy to stand-up sets to Beckett\u2019s freeform dance, \u201cResilient\u201d is a collaboration of Chicago theater artists to get on stage and do whatever they want.<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight is much bigger than what the quality of the performance is,\u201d co-producer Kathleen Kinlin explained, \u201cI think it\u2019s something to say we are here, we love you, we understand your experience to an extent and we\u2019re going to support whatever you\u2019d like to do on stage tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for the show cost $10, and AbiSamra and Kinlin donate partial proceeds each month to Rape Victim Advocates, a nonprofit that offers free services to and advocates for sexual assault victims. AbiSamra explained that she chose Rape Victim Advocates after hearing about the positive interactions that other survivors had had with the group. <\/p>\n

During the early stages of the show, the performers were mostly friends of AbiSamra and Kinlin, who went to college in Chicago together. But since then, AbiSamra has opened up submissions to the public and the show is growing, offering more performers the opportunity to share their stories.<\/p>\n

At the close of the show, Beckett ended her dance by inviting members of the audience to get on stage with her. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I like about [\u2018Resilient\u2019] is that the performers are bound together through a shared experience of trauma,\u201d said Beckett. \u201cBut also that we are all here together in this room and we have all survived.\u201d<\/p>\n

For resources regarding rape crisis or sexual assault, contact Chicago Rape Crisis Hotline at 888-293-2080 or Rape Victim Advocates<\/a> at 312-443-9603.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Rory Beckett performs an improv dance. (Juliette Rocheleau\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Juliette Rocheleau Medill Reports Rory Beckett is 4 feet 11 inches tall, but as she thrashes her whole body to headbang, the shadows from her whipping hair tower over the stage. When Beckett arrived for her performance at the Playground Theater, she had no plan for what she would do; only that she would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":440,"featured_media":70216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194,28,675],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-general-interest","category-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nSurvivors of Sexual Violence Find an Outlet in Performance - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/survivors-of-sexual-violence-find-an-outlet-in-performance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Survivors of Sexual Violence Find an Outlet in Performance - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Juliette Rocheleau Medill Reports Rory Beckett is 4 feet 11 inches tall, but as she thrashes her whole body to headbang, the shadows from her whipping hair tower over the stage. 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