 Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Inclusive Theatre Festival 2023. I am so excited to be starting the event with our third presenter for the day. Just let everyone in. So we had two amazing presentations this morning from Simone Brasini and from Mooma Holt. And this next presenter is someone I'm very excited about. CSUN Theatre has been pursuing this group for a long time and I'm so glad we finally got to bring them to ITF. Our next presenter is Sinsen Valid. Sinsen Valid is a disability justice based performance project that incubates and celebrates artists with disabilities, centralizing artists of color and LGBTQ gender variant artists as communities who have been historically marginalized. Led by disabled people of color, Sinsen Valid's performance work explores the themes of sexuality, embodiment and the disabled body. Developing provocative work where paradigms of normal and sexy are challenged, offering instead a vision of beauty and sexuality inclusive of all bodies and communities. Maria Palacios is a performer with Sinsen Valid as well as the Spanish language community's outreach specialist. Also known as the Goddess on Wheels, Maria is a poet, author, spoken word performer and a workshop facilitator. Nomi Lam is a creative director of Sinsen Valid. They are a musician, illustrator, creative coach and Koheneth Hebrew Priestess who creates earth based Jewish ritual tools including the Omer or Oracle deck and the Dreaming the World to Come planner. We are so excited to have you here with us, Nomi and Maria and please take it away. Thanks Ashna. Thank you so much. Maria, do you want to introduce yourself. Sure, I'm sorry I was like. I thought you would go first hello hello hello everybody we are super thrilled to be here. We were so excited when you invited us because we love it when people love us so. Yay. Again, my name is Maria Palacios, I am a pronounce or she her. In the description of myself, I am a Latina, light skin indigenous person with brown hair and brown eyes. And I, I am currently existing in Houston, Texas, also known as the Acoquiza land of the Acoquiza peoples with Sinsen Valid like you already heard I am spoken word artists and I've been performing with Sinsen for sins since 2007. So I feel like I'm, you know, yeah I've been doing this for a while with sins and valid so super excited. Currently as a staff. I serve as the bilingual Spanish speaking community I reached coordinator. And recently we've committed to language justice by offering our material performances and everything else not only in English and ASL but also in Spanish so we're super pumped up I'm going to pass it to Nomi so she can introduce herself. Thanks so much Maria. I'm Nomi lamb. I use she and they pronouns and I live in Olympia Washington, which is squawks and land. Because there are a lot of peoples around here the Nisqually, the Shehalis, the Puyallup and other medicine Creek Treaty tribes. And yeah, I'm a I'm a musician and performance artists and also do like illustration and other things like that I'm the creative director of sins and valid I've been working with sins. And I think I came in the year after you Maria so I'm like 2008 was my first since a valid show. And yeah, I think that's that's what I have to say oh visual description. I'm wearing a black dress. I'm a fat white Jewish non binary thumb person with curly, dark brown hair, and I have a background of a tapestry with a mountain on it and then some other Chachke's on the wall behind me. And yeah, so you already heard sins and valid submission statement, just to reiterate were a disability justice based performance project and movement or movement building organization that centers black indigenous and people of color queer trans and non binary people with disabilities. And we've been around since 2006 we the first show was basically an idea of our founders Patty burn and Lee Roy Moore and people wanted wanted more. It was a show about disability and sexuality and people were like, Okay, what when do I get to be in the next one and so now it's however many years later 1516 years later. 1717 years. Wow. It's November. Yeah. Oh, wow. Cool. Yeah, amazing. So Maria is going to share more about why sins exists. Yeah, so this is kind of like unreal almost unreal to when you start thinking about it you know when you have lived through the evolutionary process of a movement and when you get to be as old as I am I'm 57 right now turn 58 in January. So it's kind of like you're able to, to look back and realize you know how much things have changed. So, since invalid exists, I think in part because of that evolution that that social evolution that justice evolution the recognition that despite the movement you know because the disability rights movement started, you know, earlier. And despite the movement we, we recognize that there were communities that have been marginalized and have been left out of this movement you know, and it just kind of like boggles my mind for me personally being who I am an activist somebody who was there because I'm one of those disability people from back then, I'm one of the capital crawlers, you know the help us the ADA, you know, so I was there I know that brown people were part of the movement I know that we are there in the trenches we had been there working, giving and forming and doing the work kind of like behind the scenes you know while being left out of every movement. So since invalid is, is that is that birthing of, of that recognition is coming together and going holy shit we were left out, you know who else was left out around that around us you know. So, when, by the time that since invalid started in 2006, the birth of disability justice had already sprouted in conversation in communities of color and queer communities of color. Since invalid exists because because it's absolutely necessary to have a space like this because until since invalid. I think in the arts in the world of performance in the world of of movement building. Again, I like to remind people we were left out. You know, so when since invalid happened what I love about it is like. How something as big as what we have become started as something so small like a tiny seed you know, and when Patty burn and Leroy more got together and made sense and valid happen. And the reason that they even like realized it right away how big, you know the importance of significance of of of how we were going to evolve and it's the same way. When I was 23 years old, doing activism to pass the ADA back then I did not realize how important those moments were to me you know it's kind of like when you're doing the work when you're putting your body in the line when it's your advocacy, you don't you're just doing the work you know you're not stopping to think wow well I wonder what someday I'm going to become historic you know. But it just happened and I think the sense and valid. It gave a platform for expressing disabled arts, you know because that's how we started we started as disabled arts we started as performance art as you know we weren't we did not immediately come in and saying oh we are disability justice on theater. But that is how we evolved and how we became you know so since it valid exists, because it's the movement, eventually I feel like it like it would have like the damn was going to break anyway you know, because all of this happening, the continuous fight for survival of marginalized communities. It was just meant to be it was going to happen either way you know, I think that everyone have not been since invalid. The movement would have happened anyway because you know, when a body gets pregnant. Eventually the baby is born, no matter what you know so the movement happened and then just kick a birth to what is now known as since invalid. So, yeah, do you think I covered it pretty well know me or do you know add something to that part. No, that's great I just want to say not all pregnancies come to term, but, but I get your point what you're saying. Yeah, so we wanted to share some about what we've been working on in the past few years and make some time for questions and we have some videos of different performances to show folks. And the first one that I want to share with you all is. It's an example it's something that I edited together from the last big stage performance that we did which will, I think we'll share more about that after we watch the clip but the clip is kind of to highlight different ways that we bring access into our work so maybe like. Try to notice how many different types of access you see in this video and also know that this is edited together from many different versions so people wouldn't necessarily be watching. Something that has like every access accommodation in in one video if that makes sense I think you'll you'll see what I mean when I share it so just give me a sec to get that set up. We love like barnacles, Crip lives and climate chaos. Lights up on a scary white dominatrix supervillain wearing a black leather corset and headdress made of red inhalers. I am Mistress Asma and I want to scare you make you think you're dying maybe you will. What kind of attack are you hoping for my sweet? The kind that will land you in the emergency room at a moment's notice? Or does the slow terror of breathlessness building to a sharp crescendo of parric turn you on? We clutch clumps of the land between our fingers and toes as if we can squeeze the blueprints and toxins from every speck. He uses his right hand to push buttons to play the next line. As the blazes erupt in the hills who will come and get me? Another black man, Sean enters the stage. He has mid-length locks and wears a black version of the same outfit as Latif. He extends his arm palm up as if asking a question and Latif moves his arms in consent. Sean begins to remove the adaptive talker and other equipment from Latif's tray. He sets them on the floor next to the wheelchair. He removes the tray from Latif's chair as Latif guides the process. Sean unbuckles Latif. Latif extends his feet reaching for the ground. Sean lifts him under his armpits. When my building starts burning will the firefighters listen to me? That I need my AAC device when they are rescuing me from the flames. Sean supports Latif as he takes steps forwards. Will my electronic voice be saved or will it disintegrate in the ash? Lights up on Antoine, a black and indigenous deaf two-spirit person with long locks and a long beard. The stage is red and the backdrop is purple. He wears a corduroy jacket and no shirt and jeans. He walks forward. He leans forward at the waist, brings his hand up, crossing his mouth, his ear, fluttering out to the side, leaning as if the wind is blowing him. He turns, slowly around, and then jumps, landing back in his original position and backing up. He repeats the sequence. No matter what you heard, black people are in the future. We are the future. The powers that be choose to not hear us when we say, the land is ours, the planet is hurting, wear a mask, protect the water, black lives matter. Nobody is disposable. And then I turn to my community and they too are selective of which black lives matter to them. They don't think black disabled lives matter. Their ableism allows them to exclude us because they fear becoming us. Y'all may not want to hear this though. We know that we listen with more than our ears. We listen with our entire bodies. We listen with our core. So I'm wondering if folks want to share observations. What did you see in terms of access in this video? What types of access did you see or experience for those who don't see? I mean for me there was just so much going on and it was wonderful to see. I love the visual descriptions before every performance. I thought the sign language that was happening simultaneously so you could look at both together was really cool. I don't know if anybody else wants to bring anything else that I may have missed. That's great. So, ASL and audio description. Yeah, Millie. I was just going to say that even beyond the things that were done, like in giving the performance to an audience built into the performance was this piece of that there was always movement and sound there was always both. So if one was inaccessible, the other can be experienced. And just realizing, I understand I know that there are people that are both deaf and blind but like trying to encapsulate as many senses as possible. So that there can be an experience of something was really cool. Yeah. Thank you. Claudia, do you mind sharing what you were saying in the chat? I'm not sure I understand. Oh, sure. Oh, sorry. That's my hands being bad at typing because that's not what I meant to type. Um, literally it being online. I don't know why it typed so strangely literally being online being a film. That's what that word was supposed to be. It's supposed to be film literally it being a film that we can access together now is just a beautiful piece of the access design. Yeah, thank you. Amanda. I really appreciate it how there was this audio in the background describing it was happening. And it felt very natural. Thank you. I think I'm going to just reiterate what I think I heard you say because there's some background noise, but you are saying that the audio describing what was happening was helpful. And then just Sonia. Yes, thank you. Um, this moved me to tears. This was my first experience having accessible theater. I am going to be 40 next year and I really I'm going to be late to theater in general because of lack of access due to extreme poverty. So this was not only as you know as an indigenous Latino woman but as a disabled person to be able to experience all of those different types of access was amazing. Thank you so much to Sonia and Terry. For me, a major piece of the access here was that it was not just for us and about us it was by us. And I think that being able to see disabled bodies performing is extremely powerful and extremely necessary because it is something that we can do. And I think that we are often treated as audience members only, and that we, you know that a lot of entities make big, big efforts to get us in the audiences but then there's no pathway for us to get on their stages, or to be recognized that we can be artists and we can be just, we should have the right to witness it which of course we should, but we should have the right to make it and we should have the right, we should have pathways cleared for our access to make it. And so just that all of that wrapped up together is creating access because it's showing us that this is something we can do. I've been wanting to act since I was eight years old and I saw one disabled actor before I was 18 years old. And the disabled actors I saw never looked like me they were always skinny white people is the other thing. So, yeah, it's, it's the, it's the fact that we're there and that we're doing it. And I do think that that is creating access. Thank you so much. I really appreciate hearing all your voices. Okay, yes. One more, and then we have lots more to share with you. I work with children kindergarten through fifth grade. I have a group of kids that are on the spectrum, using those the voice devices and such. I have them use them when we're doing little scenes or stuff or they're talking to me. I was totally blown away and moved how it was used and the emotion was clear. It gave me like a new sense of wanting to explore that more with these kids who are going to eventually hopefully one day be able to use those and express their emotion so thank you very much for that. Oh, wow, I'm really moved by what everyone shared. Thank you so much. So something about this performance that you can't necessarily tell from looking is another whole layer of access was that we created this whole performance during lockdown of coven and so this was never on the stage live as one whole performance. We rented theaters in four different states and had people with no more than six people in a space at the same time we were observing strict coven protocol and then had you know patty on zoom directing and filmmakers in each location and then it was edited together and presented online so we got to experience it all kind of together online. And hopefully, you know, we are planning an in person show again that we plan to be a hybrid event but this was a real experiment and how to perform is accessible in this time still you know patty was very attached to being a print and like theater and so I feel like we she had a vision and really did it and I would love to hear Maria do you want to share more about your experience of working on this show. Sure, I echo everything that you've said know me. I think that often blows people's minds to realize and recognize that access is possible that inclusion is not a dirty war that scares people. You know, unfortunately because of ableism and just I always like to say that ableism is at the root of all evil that oppresses disabled people and it's true. You know so even as someone who is part of the show. And who's already used to the practices of inclusion that since invalid, you know, just, you know, we kind of created this. And then for me, it's mind blowing, you know, like, like, viewing the film that you'll just saw. I know me share it with me last night, or Friday night whenever it wasn't. And it just kind of blew me away like the part where, and one big I mean the voice that speaks in Spanish you made me realize holy cow. You know, I mean, even in those language oppression is another another form of ableism that that will keep us separated you know. I can totally understand and I really appreciate you know everybody's feedback and recognizing and seeing those various types of access because it is possible and we are demonstrating it through to this and you know, know me and when you said yeah we did it all during I almost forgotten that you know that imagine all this different in person as a whole different animal. So it's because a whole different production. But I think, like the level let me our efforts you know the things that we commit to doing for to make sure that we are inclusive demonstrates to the theater world to the performing arts world that it's possible. It's doable. And there's no damn excuse, you know, so. And did you. I do. One of the things about the show is that you did flamenco dance. Oh my God. You guys. Yeah, yeah, it's. It's not a but anyway, it's not quite available in the world in this moment, but there's actually a documentary about it that I can send you links to but but Maria will you talk about what it was like to do like asynchronous flamenco. Yeah. So the wild thing is that I had, I'm not a dancer by any stretch of the imagination movement is not my forte. Right. I was like I was joking I was telling me the other day that usually with sins is like Patty as director she's so influential that she'll say Maria do you want to dance and I'm like, sure, you know. So the joke that I say is like Patty says jump and I just say how high because Patty has that level of faith in us and recognizes where we are able to do incapable of doing. She'll like put it out there on the table you want to try this so flamenco Patty loves flamenco and we love flamenco it's just gorgeous, but having to learn it through zoom was was difficult you know it was scary for me it was like the challenge for me as a performer for the show was that you had to do a step outside of my comfort zone which my comfort zone is spoken word, you know, it's you know lifting my poetry from the page and giving it life and performing it. But dancing dancing is not my forte you know I don't feel that that movement comes natural to me it comes with a lot of effort it comes with with a lot of second thought intentional you know, action. So yeah, it was like very scary. But it worked out it worked out beautifully the way that we did it was we, the instructor recorded herself sitting down doing the movements, you know, after we had a session and you know the wildest thing is we only had a lot for sessions. Something like for sessions I learned how to dance flamenco online and for freaking sessions. You know, but the most amazing part for me was knowing that that piece of flamenco piece that I was doing was going to be accompanied by know me who was doing percussion on her on her leg know me talk a little bit just about that I know that that we're kind of touring a little bit but this is just so badass. Yeah, well, so we have one of the performers Seema ball is a flamenco singer she lives in Seattle. And so she and a guitarist were in Seattle singing the song, and then Maria was in Houston dancing flamenco from a wheelchair, like using her arms so beautifully and so you know a lot of flamenco is the percussion so we're like okay where do we get the percussion. And that was me playing my cane on my fake leg. And Patty was, I'm like, I'm not a percussionist and, and Seema is like, you know, she's a flamenco singer so she's like it has to be exact like it, you know I was like pretty nervous about it but it was, you know, like Maria says Patty is like you can do it you're going to be amazing just go ahead and do it. Yeah, yeah, it's like it's so funny when those moments happen because it's kind of like we're insecure about it, but Patty's already been around the corner and back seeing our, our abilities and our potential and the things her vision becomes our vision so beautifully knitted together you know that no matter how scary or scary or challenging in my scene like to me in dancing flamenco I'm like shit I'm not a dancer. You know, but, but we did it and in the way that that it came together. It's some at moments you even think that we're in person. That's how you know it felt. So usually it's possible. And it's, it makes me think you know what Terry was talking about just never being never having a place. We're seeing examples never like having opportunities to perform. And then here having this disabled queer director of color who's like, oh yeah you're going to do this you're a genius you're brilliant you're going to do this and that's we need so much more of that in our lives in the theater world. So, should I show, I was going to show an excerpt from your one of your pieces from that show Maria. I also wanted to share. You can watch our documentary about creating this performance which includes a lot of video clips. It's free on YouTube if you are an institution that wants to show it and contact us because there's another way we would want you to do it for that but just for your own enjoyment. Please feel welcome to watch it on YouTube and it's, there's many different versions so there's an ASL version. There's I believe an ASL with also signed description like visual descriptions. There's an audio described version there's a Spanish version and I think there's a Spanish version with audio description as well so enjoy, and I'm going to just show Maria I'm sorry this isn't a longer clip of your piece it's what I was able to find. And I don't know if there's somebody doing live captions but I sent a transcript for these pieces because it doesn't have captions on it. Okay. Myself. Poetry begins in the darkness. Prepared. Prepared is a word that weighs a ton when you think of disasters. Maria a Latina woman wheels into the frame. Being prepared means having access to resources. Access to the necessary extras reserved for the privileged who don't think are privileged. They stand in front of us in their three piece suits asking if we are ready. Do we have an extra wheelchair. Do we have non perishable goods stored away. Do we have a way to get out if we get hit by mother nature's anger. She's right to be angry you know. She's tired of being raped by human greed. The rain started around midnight. I don't know what it is about hurricanes but they seem to like that midnight to 3am slot when people have fallen asleep. We get awakened by the wind and the rain hitting the windows. Lightning brings glimpses of daylight. Trees are shaken. The wind roars destruction. Mother nature cries and weeps and howls and we huddle and pray and cry with her because there's nothing else we can do. Houston we have a problem. Houston we have disabled people waiting in high water. Houston we have people who had to abandon everything. Everything even mobility aids and other life sustaining equipment. Equipment spent years waiting for equipment. Crips can't afford to replace. We had to leave accessible vehicles. We had to leave accessible homes and place our trust in the very world that wishes Crips did not exist. I want to talk more about this piece and about the Crips Survival Network. Yeah absolutely. So thank you Nomi for sharing that excerpt. That is actually a 10 minute piece. And for me that piece was very emotional. It was difficult to write. It was difficult to memorize. It was difficult to perform. And it's difficult to watch for me. It was difficult to be able to share and represent the truths of disabled people who face ableism to the max who face being abandoned being forgotten. It's a no necessary, but it doesn't make it any less painful to recognize that our disabled lives are in so much danger of being left out of being abandoned of. It's dangerous because of ableism. And with climate change and climate chaos. Things can only get worse for disabled people. I'm going to talk about the Crips Survival Network in a second but I just feel like the urge to say that, because since invalid started back then with like crib bodies and sensuality and sexuality and performance art and our movement is something that kind of like happened, you know, like us just recognizing all the shit that's hitting us constantly being aware of the oppression and feeling the huge responsibility to move forward saving each other's lives. So our energy and the flow of what we do has shifted over the last few years. We have moved beyond our physical existence and our access needs as far as being central and and being human. I think that we have moved from from protecting disability rights to basic human rights. You know, disability justice is about that. So the Crips Survival Network is an initiative that Patty Byrne and myself started a year ago. Shortly after I came on board as staff, we, we were, we had the opportunity to talk to other Crips really and we, we met some disabled people in New York who had been literally been abandoned during COVID, and they were nursing home residents who were who actually lived in the nursing home, you know, people exist in all areas of society. And just because the nursing home is not the most ideal place for anybody, it doesn't mean disabled people don't exist in those, in those situations. You know, this, this group of small group of black and brown disabled people who lived in this nursing home in New York. All of a sudden, watch on the news that the governor was the governor was sending COVID positive people to their facility and saying that it was empty. You know, and, and we're like, oh my gosh, sorry, I have dogs. We already know that disabled people get abandoned, you know, but when it becomes kind of like on your face. And that realization stares at you and you're like, oh my God, we have to keep each other alive, you know, so this is kind of like what we already knew that disabled lives are in danger we already knew that we need to save one another we already knew. But this was kind of like for me and Patty was started talking after this after being part of this conversation. And we thought at first, we thought we need to do something we need to do something that is related to could survival something that can help disabled people during the disaster something that can reach out and let them know they're not alone. Something, you know, and that's something. At first it was like a conversation about about a backpack a backpack containing a stuff that can help disabled people and stuff that usually the non disabled world wouldn't let us have, you know, everybody and their mama is doing life saving for disaster, you know, prevention. And so part of our initiative was, was having a backpack that will contain things that are often denied to disabled people expensive items or whatever. But then the conversation shifted. It shifted to more like beyond just offering emergency water or battery operated radio or a flashlight or the things that those backpacks please stop that those backpacks would have in them you know, we realized that one of the most valuable things needed to keep disabled people alive is each other, each other surviving and each other knowing that we are here for one another. It is that the constant reminder that our lives are worth saving, because that is the message that society sense to the world is that we are discardable disposable we are the throwaways of society. We can be forgotten and we're often forgotten, more often than not, you know, so to us surviving means reminding each other constantly that we were saving that we are not alone, that our survival saves other disabled people there are lives are disabled lives have meaning. During covert, you know, and it is an example that I always bring up when I talk about how disabled people are left and forgotten during covers 11 texts as I mentioned. He was a man a quadriplegic man who could contracted covert ended up in the hospital, and the state of Texas starved him to death. They decided that his life was not worth living that his quality of life was not enough to keep him alive and they denied him food. Even though he was a man with a wife and children and community, and everything that non disabled people think that we don't have. Right. And that's why disabled people disabled lives become so at risk of being thrown away because the non disabled world sees us as broken. They don't recognize our value, you know, so the crypto viable network is an effort is as an initiative to come together as disabled people and save each other's lives. So, since about 14 months ago almost a year and a half Wow, we about 20 organizations, more the majority of them are led by brown disabled people. And a couple of them are actually not even disabled led, you know, but they're doing justice work so we have become a community a family of right now 20 organizations we've been getting together. Once a month to formulate dream and envision how to save each other how to stay alive, how to save each other's communities. And through this conversation. We are about to launch ourselves into hubs. You know this 20 organizations are going to be survival hubs script survival network hubs for their communities and as part of this initiative since and valid will be dispersing funds for each of these organizations. So we can help save each other, not only from natural disasters but from the disasters of ableism and political threats you know, I always like to remind people that that disabled people don't need to wait unfortunately for a hurricane to hit us or for an earthquake to happen or for a pandemic to do to take place for us to be in danger. You know we live in danger from ableism every single days of our lives no matter where we are. So that's in a nutshell, the crypto revival network. And I wish and hope that disabled people around the world will continue holding on to one another for dear lives because doing so saves us. It saves us we have to, we have to continually continually fight for our survival, and I'm not exaggerating. That's a little bit about the perfect timing because my dogs are bonking. Thank you so much, Maria. Yeah, and I think, you know, I'm guessing a lot of us are are thinking about this with climate chaos and everything that we're experiencing and I also, I think it's useful to see the ways that like there are 10 principles of disability justice. Which we didn't really include in this program, but a lot of times we'll kind of base our trainings around that and you can look it up 10 principles of disability justice, but you know, these principles of like wholeness like we are all whole people. That we like cross disability solidarity like we weave that into the performance, and then that also becomes a part of what we're actually doing in our lives not just on on stage and so that's why we named the this event like disability justice or performance as movement building because they're really intertwined in our work. I want to give some space for questions and reflections and then we have one more video before we close out. Sorry I had to mute because I was coughing I'm a little sick. Yeah, does anyone have any questions. Terry, did you want to say something came on. Thank you I'm trying to figure out how to raise my hand and I'm on my iPad and it ate that option. Thank you for calling on me. How does someone get involved with you or are you a closed collective do you work with people who aren't necessarily local to all of you it sounds like you at least did during coven. Yeah, we were kind of all over the place. And it's very relationship based. So, and Patty burn is the, is the director so there's not a clear. I would love nothing more than to have a artists and residents program we've done this once many years ago, but to help develop people's art and then help them become a part of since invalid stage productions and that just has never quite taken off so it's, you know, based in on what Patty forms relationships with. And also, we would love to know you and love to know your work and apologize that we don't have like an audition process or anything like that like work. We're kind of an ensemble, like Patty works with kind of the same people over and over and then we'll bring in like one or two people. We want to learn about what people are doing in the world so please do reach out to us. Social media. You know, we do have Instagram and Facebook page and Facebook page is right now in Spanish dedicated to Spanish speaking audiences but do follow follow us because we often have events that you could be part of on on social media so, and we also have a newsletter. Yeah, and we actually like, we've been working on doing this crit bed life. Instagram campaign, which it's looking like it's going to be sorry my dog is like eating my couch now stop it. I mean, like, it's going to be about ways that people are taking action for Palestine from bed. So that's going to be the focus of it that wasn't it was going to be more like, here's how I live my life from bed but in this moment that feels like where we want to really put our energy and attention. And that's also a way like if you want to participate when we do calls like that that you can, you know, make a little video and post it on our social media and stuff like that. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone else have any questions or reflections. It seems like not Maria do you want to talk some more do you have anything else that's on your heart to share. Oh, I think that want us to move to your beautiful video. Great. So, um, this is from the same show. And this piece was I feel very connected to bees. And these are definitely having a hard time. And you know what I'm not feeling super articulate right now. So I think I'm going to just like let you watch the video. We can talk about it afterwards if you have questions. Let me find it one moment. Lights up on know me a fat white Jewish non binary found wearing a golden burlesque costume inspired by a honeybee queen. She sits on a platform which is wheeled onto stage while she flutters her hands as if they were wings. She smiles as if pleased with herself and moves her hands through multiple fluttering positions. The cameras capture her from different angles, including overhead. She has one leg and two wings and a fancy hat with a jewel that drips like honey over the curls of her bangs. She strikes glamorous poses. She head bangs and shimmies to the music. She raises it and smears it on her body and her face. She sucks honey off her finger. Yeah, so that piece, one of the things that's really fun for me with sins is kind of inventing like a whole vision of what the piece is. So where Maria is very content oriented of like, here's the poem I'm going to write. I usually start with an image and then kind of build out from there. So I've done things where I'm a baby bird in a nest made out of legs or I'm a mermaid interacting with these huge puppets or I've got a skirt that covers most of the stage with people dancing under it. And with this one, I had heard a description of a queen bee that had a lot of the same language that is used to describe fat people's bodies. Like talking about, I don't want to say, it was just like, you know, saying that it was gross or something like a queen bee is like so big and gross and I was like, well, that sounds awesome and beautiful to me. And just like having seen the way that bees are when they're doing their work, you know, they're like, reveling, they're just like rolling around in the pollen and just having the most incredible time and I find that really inspiring and especially, I think, part of my work in this time, where, you know, realistically, who knows how much time humans have left on the planet. I'm like, we have to love being alive in the bodies that we are alive in. And so that's, that's where part of what I was working with in that also just about like the modification of beauty and yeah, lots of ideas in there. Thank you for watching and thank you for the responses in the chat. Does anyone else have any questions or thoughts before we wrap up? My dog has things to say. She's a puppy. Okay. Maria, anything else you want to say before we close out? I just want to say that you are such a badass. I absolutely love that piece and the power that it represents giving, you know, bodies, beautiful representation. I mean, God, I just absolutely freaking love. I adore that piece. And I love that the show closes with that piece, you know, and that we're closing with that piece because, Nomi, you are glorious. You are, you're first of all the queen of costumes. You know, you do everyone in the show with your costumes and that piece is like one of my ultimate, ultimate favorite ones because you not only look stunning and gorgeous but the power that you represent and that you share is just so, you're amazing. Thank you, Maria, and back at you. You are a powerhouse and a goddess on wheels and I adore working with you so much and you're such an incredible performer. So blessed to be on this planet with you. Yeah, thank you so much, Ashna, for bringing us here and to everyone. I hope that you've had a really great weekend. Thank you so much, Nomi and Maria. We've learned so much in the past hour from the performances and from everything we saw. I'm just so fascinated by all the work that you do and I'm so glad we finally got a chance to introduce you to the Northwestern and the Evanston community and everybody, all our seesaw friends online here today. I'm sure there's so much we're going to take back from these performances and honestly as Maria was saying just how badass everything that you guys do is. It's so true. And I hope we can all move around in life with that kind of like confidence and love and innovation, which you guys embody so well. Thank you for being here and thank you to all our audience members for being here and for interacting with us. We're going to take a 15-minute break before our very last presentation of this year's Inclusive Theater Festival at 3.45pm from the brilliant Claudia Alec of Calling of Justice. So feel free to stay on the call and just keep your camera on or off as you need to and we'll reconvene in about 15 minutes. Thank you all for being here. Thank you so so much. Thank you.