The YouSpoke Unity Dance — By Stefanie

The YouSpoke Unity Dance  – By Stefanie

Today is a special day for YouSpoke. Today is our first dance performance. . . the first one of many.

The piece is entitled “Unity”, and it is dedicated to my father, whom I lost to suicide in 2006. Growing up, my dad always nurtured my love for dance. As it flourished into a serious passion, it became something that he and I were able to celebrate together throughout the years. I value this time and experience with him so much.

After the loss of my father, it became difficult for me to reflect on the dance performances that I knew he would miss. There are so many moments I wanted him to be present for. This inspired me to create the YouSpoke Unity Dance—a piece so perfectly catered to my father, that his spirit and love would be inevitably felt during the performance on some level. It uses the upper right hand corner of the stage as a focal point, as this is the place where my dad used to stand with his video camera during my childhood recitals. It features a Simon and Garfunkel song that I know my father loved, and elaborates on an idea that he so fully supported—unity. This concept will be expressed through dancers of very distinct styles that come together as one at the end.

This dance has manifested into something profoundly healing for me. It is my way of continuing the celebration of dance with my father, nearly 4 years after his death. I feel honored to have found such a talented, passionate group of dancers that have helped turn this vision into a reality. I feel thankful for the enlightenment that has come from this project and dedicated to replicating this feeling for others. If you feel inspired to submit your story, whether it be art, music, dance, literature, textile, and beyond, visit www.youspoke.org!

This dance will be presented at the start of the EarthShare.org Revamped Fashion and Art show TONIGHT at Salvage One located at 1840 w. Hubbard St. Chicago, IL. Purchase tickets and find out more about the event here: www.fanfueled.com/revamped

List of dancers and choreographers (in order of appearance):

Stefanie Cary

Nicholas Moore – hip hop

Melissa Johnson – contemporary and gospel

Annie Christianson – modern

Ajay Bedi – tap

Nico Rubio – tap

Lauren Parets – African

Special thanks to:

Jenni Guarascio

Jaclyn Jones and the Indigo Studio — www.theindigostudio.com

Kathleen Sullivan

Rich and Kathy Brooks

Dee Moore

Steven Hill

Lori Crosthwait

Travis Rime Brooks

Kory Salajka

UPDATE: Check out a video of this dance performance here: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=549400694528&ref=mf

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