Movements:
of the body, such as dance
of a culture, such as revolution
BEWEGUNGEN BERLIN//MOVEMENTS OF BERLIN
is the culminating art-based research project I've designed for myself to follow in step with the group practice I created through my thesis. Embodied Storytelling (ES) is a new antidote to the isolationist narratives we so frequently encounter in Western culture. ES connects participants to their embodied experiences, and in sharing them together breaks the boundaries between experience and individual, between mind and body.
Movements of Berlin will help participants write their Embodied Stories by providing structure for them to insert experience into writing, and will encourage those who are "moved" by the idea and experience of embodied cultural self-reflection to join together in a performance-art installation where these stories will be shared with an audience.
In eliciting this content in a socio-politico-cultural context, we can unlock a new wave of content about human feeling capacity through conflict. This is a peace-building practice with one goal of offering a more culturally literate experience of German unification through the writing of these stories, as well as video of their embodiment!
Exactly 20 days after I graduate, I'll fly to Berlin and stay for 3 months. I'll be conducting this research very much on my own, meeting people on the street and by word-of-mouth. There's no telling what the outcome of this endeavor will look like, but my fundraising campaign has been growing steadily and the website/blog is all ready to go.
Not only has this ePortfolio been the developmental home for the foundation of this journey, it has also been a womb for my creativity, a spearhead for my bravery, and a reminder of my commitment to make a difference in this world. Nobody is saying I'm an expert, but I am motivated to ask questions. My journey at Naropa has taught me the power of listening and presence; I've created this project to model a new scope of cultural listening -- it's as if we can start taking humanity's pulse, one culture at a time. It may seem like a daunting prospect, but the reality is actually very simple -- whether sitting with a singular loved one, or with your love for the whole world:
Listen. Feel. Respond.
When I plant my feet on Berlin ground, a new journey begins. Long life SASSY and the fierceness it's demanded of me! May you all encounter circumstance where your bravery can be called upon, acted through, and witnessed.
Gods-speed to one and all.
Erin Likins