 We are so excited that you're here to support, including everyone who's doing live stream with us, welcome. So just a little bit of information about the Gathering. The Gathering is now in its third year. Support Black female artists in particular and to acknowledge them in the various ways that they contribute to our field. And be advocates for better cultural equity in this contemporary dance world, right? So we want to acknowledge all of those things tonight in various ways. So last year we had 60 attendees with artists, teachers, scholars, administrators, presenters. All of whom contribute to all of what we do, right? So of course this year I'm happy to say that we have over 90 people that will be flowing in and out tonight. And so I'm excited about that increase. So before I'm excited about what we were able to do earlier before the Gathering. So we were able to offer two free workshops that were administered by the field. We were able to talk to us about how do you sustain a life of the arts, right? Also looking at the finances, what goes into that. We all, some people struggle with budgeting, you know, trying to really figure that out, both in personal and professional life. So what did that really look like altogether? So we had an opportunity to do that. And we also have three partners this year. And so I want to definitely bring all of them up to have different remarks and share with you this partnership that we've been able to go with. And I'll start with Mr. Bill T. Jones. Thank you very much, Tommy Kriegsman, Isabella. All of us here at New York Life Arts are very, very proud to share this platform which is what this place is with this particular community. Yesterday I was at the APAP. I don't know if any of you were there. And one of the questions that came up, it is that we are a couple of things. That we are a community. And I'm not quite so sure I'd lie into that anymore. I think community is a much harder thing to do than my generation thought it was. It's not coming by now. But I hear you speak about the dancers. But I want every dancer here to understand a place like this. You need some things that in order for this platform to exist, we need a board. Who in this room is going to advocate for the board that's going to put out the dollars so that we can make sure that we have enough to go around for all of these people? We need a more diverse board. Where are the people of color who want to be doing that thing that traditionally associated with the power structure, which is called supporting dollars? So please don't pull off into thinking I'm a press dancer. All the arts organizations are struggling in the same way. This platform is here for you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Lane is a great honor to be included in this. I'm very, very excited. I was joking about this stuff. I have a coming upstairs. Now, is that objectionable to be called a coming? Pardon? Are they with you? Yes, well, what are with you? What are witches? Witches are powerful women who are speaking a language, a language to and for each other. So I use it like tongue-in-cheek, but I was wondering if maybe you want to, again, there's something magical in this is what I'm trying to say. And I want this to happen here. Thank you very much. We have New York Lab Arms and I look forward to seeing all of you at our shows as well. Thank you. And now I'd also like to introduce Lane Harwell and Michelle Baer from Dance NYC, who are also partners for this year's Gathering. Thank you, Ben and Sierra. Thank you, Bill. I'm Lane Harwell, Executive Director of Dance NYC. And with my colleague, Michelle Baer, we're delighted to join in welcoming you, especially those who are just visiting New York. Welcome to New York. It is our great honor to have Camille A. Brown among the Dance NYC Advisory Board and to be partnering with her and her team and the Gathering's advisory body on this event. We share commitment to honest dialogue and to addressing inequities, gender inequities and racial inequities that persist in the field. We look forward to continue our learning and our work with all of you. And my colleague, Michelle, will tell you a little bit about what we have in store ahead. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon. Okay. As Lane said, my name is Michelle Baer. I'm the new Equity and Inclusion Coordinator at Dance NYC. We organize our Equity and Inclusion Programming across research convening and technology. And one thing that we have coming up, we've been delighted to be working to support Camille in preparing for the Gathering. We've also been piloting partnerships with International Association of Blacks and Dance, Women of Color in the Arts. And one aspect of these partnerships is offering discounted ticket rates to members of these organizations to our annual symposium, which is our only paid event every year. A full long day of different sessions. We have this year a keynote with Darren Walker from the Gord Foundation. A lunchtime session with Missy Colton and Virginia Johnson. A conversation on funding racial equity with different funders from SIRDNA, Nathan Cummings, Mellon Foundation. So a lot of people are convening into this space. And Odisha Weeks is going to be with us that day. And some other people in the room like Maria Bowman. Camille is organizing two sessions later in the day. So it's going to be a really exciting full day. And I'm going to pass out some flyers later today with your discount code, which is going to be Gather. So all of you are welcome to join us that day for just a discounted rate of $50. And we hope to see a lot of you there to continue our learning today. Thank you all so much. Last but not least, we have Jennifer Wright Cook, who is the Executive Director at this field. So we just had a budget workshop downstairs called Budget for Love Story. And the sort of Echo Bill. The field and the work we do in many ways about building the capacity and some of these infrastructure ways to support work that's being made. So I'm just happy to be involved with the Gathering in that way and support that work. And also last year I had the deep pleasure of attending the Gathering. And I wanted not knowing what was going to happen. I thought it was going to be a panel. I'm not sure why. I'm going to have to say I got home that night and I said to my partner, I feel like my blood is just like running throughout my body in the most vibrant way. And my heart was just expanded in such ways and I felt so rich and so alive. And so I called Camille shortly thereafter and said, you know, how can we help? And I've known Camille for quite a while. We've worked on different projects, but I just felt like there's something I wanted to be supportive of. And in my role as Executive Director of the field, I felt like an opportunity and a responsibility to be helpful as we can. The only other thing I'll say is that we're running a program right now called Field Leadership Fund. Some of you may have applied. One of our fellows is in the house, Sydney. And there are other teachers in the room. Yeah, so it's my dream project. And it's a paid fellowship program for 12 artists and arts managers building capacity under resource artists and arts managers to sort of build up the field to be more supportive, particularly of artists of color and organizations of color. So Sydney will tell you, you know, in distance, where it's more about and how it goes, but we're piloting it. And it really is my dream project. And so you can follow it on Twitter and blah, blah, blah. And we're going to be doing a public event in May or June, probably an Undoing Racism workshop with Swede Cuppison and Nathan Trison, possibly Maria, if I can pull her back to New York. So look out for that and have a great time. I won't be able to stay, but thank you so much for having us a part of your gathering. So before we continue, everyone can make sure the phone is on vibrate or silent. One of the two will do. I would greatly appreciate that. And without further ado, I want to introduce Camille Abrams. This is very, very exciting. So I just want to thank everyone for coming out. And I'm so happy this is the third year we are doing it. And I plan to continue doing it during this time. As Indira said, it's an open forum. And just for people who don't know, one of the reasons why I started the gathering was because I saw many of my friends in passing and we would have conversations about what was going on, what we were frustrated about, and we would give ourselves a pow-wow session. And I wanted to know what would happen if we all came together and talked about these same issues that kept coming up. I wanted to do it during a time that I knew that the dance world was also here, too. So they know that we do exist. There are more than five black female choreographers. There are many of us out here working. And for us to continue to support each other. So that's the reason why I started the gathering. So thank you for everyone who is here. For the first time, the second time, the third time, thank you. Thank you to our partners, Bill T. Jones, Tommy Griezming, and Nyla, Jennifer Rae Cook, Sean Renee Graham in the field, Lane Harwell, and Michelle Baer at Dance NYC. I want to thank my agents. She did a workshop on Friday that spoke about artists and agent relationships. So it's one thing when you ask someone to represent you. It's another thing when you ask them to represent you and do this other thing that I really want you to do. So she is doing meetings and everything for her own artist and roster, but I was just really thankful that she was generous enough to carve out some time to speak to people. The Gathering Advisory Board. This is the second year that it's been in existence. And these women have really been instrumental in the growth of the gathering. So I just want to take the time to acknowledge them, Cynthia Oliver, Paloma McGregor, Maria Baumann, Marjani Forte Saunders, Nia Love, Michelle Gibson, Crystal Brown, and Amara Taber-Smith. I thank them for their support. I thank them for challenging me and helping me to develop this. So I just want to take the time to acknowledge them. Vijay Matthew and HowlRoundTV live stream. Hi. Jacoby Adam, a photographer, Ashani Mfuko, social media manager, Gathering Volunteers Clarice Young, Kimberly Moon, Teraji Omar, Rachel Watson, and Amara Taber-Smith. I want to thank my mom, Lorraine Brown. This is her third year doing hospitality. So I just want to give a shout out to her. And is there a good wine? Again, this is someone who is my company manager for Camille Brown and Dancers. But again, it's one thing to have someone work for you in the company setting. But it's also another thing when she takes on this project and my other initiative and my other independent project. So I just want to thank her. In the summertime, she is transitioning from company manager to managing director. So I just want to thank her. And she's the manager of the Gathering. And I just want to give a shout out to our past facilitators, Baraka Saleh and Onye Ozuzu. They were just fantastic, so different, but so needed for all of us. And now, I want to introduce our facilitators this year. I am so honored. The word that I use when I'm really, really excited is hype. And I am excited because I know how I have felt to be in your presence. I know how much I feel assistive and I feel the impact. And I am tremendously honored that you have taken the time to help us come together to lead us. Paloma McGregor, who is the founder of Dancing While Black. Shawnee Jamila, managing director of Urban Justin Center. I am just so honored to have you here. Thank you so much. Thank you. Hey, everybody. Hey. Hello, family. Yeah, I'm Paloma. I'm Shawnee. And we are longtime friends and collaborators and really excited to be here with you all today. The purpose of today is to create a container, which we're already doing with this circle. And I would ask those of you who are not actually in the level of this circle down here to come and join us in some space. There's space for you. So we are all the keepers of this container today. So for the next couple of hours when we're together, Shawnee and I will be helping to push some things forward. But we're all assisting one another in keeping the container. So I'm looking forward to that. Today we're going to be leading through a series of facilitated structures that aim to help us to get to know one another a little bit better. I've been at both gatherings and have found them to be rejuvenating and the energy that bubbles up in the room is so exciting. And I'm excited about deepening our connections with it. So we're going to be moving around the room with our bodies in and out of different structures that allow us to have small conversations with one another. Small, I mean time wise maybe they'll be small and hopefully you'll be able to jump into them again and again over the course of the year that we don't have a gathering. But that we might continue to gather ourselves in our own facilitated ways to continue the conversations that start here. So for me this is like the beginning of something together and hopefully we'll surface some things that each of us can leave here with the next step for our work that we must do. I won't spend a lot of time adding to that because I want us to have the majority of the time that we're sharing together actually inactivity with each other. But what I do want to say first is although I am new to the gathering I'm so excited about being part of this here today and Camille such a fantastic introduction. Thank you for having us here. I'm really thrilled to see so many faces though that feel like home to me, you know, that I've known from so many different places over the years and so many different interactions. And from the spirit that I already felt in the room with y'all just walking in, you know, so much joy, so much love, so much reconnection. And what we hope to do over the course of the next few hours is really be in to deepen those and think more about how we can move forward as a collective and as a community. And so of course some of the things that I'll be drawing from and will be drawing from over this time have to do with experiences that I may have had, you know, my decade with urban Bush women in many capacities. Some learning that I did with Liz Lerman and Cassie Metter from Dance Exchange in D.C. or Tacoma Park. Some study with Cornerstone Theatre Company out of Los Angeles and I bring these up because I'm not making this shit up. Like I'm not like, oh Paloma so she made up all this stuff. You know, there are places that I've studied and people who have passed on information to me that maybe I've adapted in my own way. And so I'd like to put that out there and specifically the story circle model that we'll be using. We'll be talking more about where that comes from. And I know that we each bring in our own range of histories and expertise and we also bring into the room the legacies of people who have come before us. So I think to help seal this container initially. I'd like us all to just stand for a moment. And think about someone who's maybe not on this side of the veil with us anymore but who comes into the room with us to help us to stand in our power here together with one another. And so I think this space will begin to open up for all of us to step into and I think before we do that we should place the names of those who we need to be in the room with us to help keep this container strong. So it doesn't have to be one at a time. I think just let's build this container between us. Catherine Dunham. Blondel. Octavia Butler. And so we know that more will probably continue to reveal themselves as our time together goes on. So as you know if there are times where you think of another person just you can continue to bring them into the room with us. We need them to move forward. So the next thing we're going to do is talk about the kind of space that we're going to collectively create. We have these postmits over here but they are actually hidden from some of us in the room. I'm going to move them. Hope that's going to stay. Are we going to make it work? We have tape. We have tape. We have tape. Boom. So what we're going to see from our title at the top. Hello, welcome. At the top of the paper here is how we do. In a moment I was talking about it in advance of this. We were going to do how we do. We were going to have to visit, right? So it's an opportunity for us to talk about what are going to be our collective rules of engagement over the course of the next few hours. What is it that we will all agree to? What kind of space are we working to create? So I'm going to ask you basically just to popcorn anything that you'd like for me to add to this. I'll start by saying one mic, right? So when we're having collective time to talk in a space like this and there'll be lots of time that we're talking all together. But when there's a point where we just need one voice to be heard, that's respected to each other enough to create the space to hear that. Can we agree to that? Yes. Okay, so I'll put one mic. Can anyone point to a chair near them that might be free? Great. As people enter the room if we can do that, that would be great. Thank you. What other things might we want to put under our banner of how we do? All the space on your own. We're sharing the space. Maybe we could also have them put in space. Maybe you said it will. And what I'll put is just sharing the space and we all know what she means by that, right? Okay, thank you. What else? Respecting different points of view. Okay. Judgment free zone. Say that louder. Judgment free zone. Judgment free. Word. Space but not comfortable space. Talk about that some more. So in alignment with the idea of a judgment free zone, this is a space that we are all welcome in and respected in. But that doesn't mean we're always going to be comfortable. We are inviting ourselves to be challenged and pushed in whatever ways the space brings. But we all know that we are held by each other in the space. Okay. Anything else with that? Sure. So I think also along those lines, then this idea, I know that people are in and out. And I respect that people have a variety of things that they have to do today. I would say don't use your discomfort as a reason to be like, oh, I have to build that. Because we're intended to facilitate you through a stages of a journey. So if there's a moment where the conversation gets uncomfortable, that's actually the moment where transformation, where learning, where growth, where aha can happen. And so I mean, I know how that is. We're just like, you know what, I'm doing kind of some kind of way now. I might need to go to the bathroom with all my stuff. So just, I mean, be tracking yourself too in terms of that. You know, we're not intending for people to feel some kind of way. But you know, people are going to be bringing up different viewpoints. We're going to be respecting that people are coming from different places. And just understanding that we want to like work through those stages together and ask questions for understanding about, you know, how to move to the next one. So can I sum that up as stay present? Stay present. Okay. I actually have a question. It's a practical one about breaks and going to the bathroom and stuff like that. No breaks. Okay. Maybe that was topic. No, no, no. It's a good question. I think anybody who has to go to the bathroom should go to the bathroom. And we built it. There's some space in here, but we packed in it. So like we want to make the most use of this time. So I also feel like, you know, we're going to be moving out of different ways of working. So it won't feel like, oh, we're in one today. It's not like a three hour exam class. So I think, and I think if there's really come in a time where the group is feeling something, the reason we're co-facilitating is because when one's facilitating the other can be kind of paying attention to what's happening in the room. So, but we might not know this, but I feel free to come. Yeah, and we'll see what we can do. Definitely want to be responsive in that one. Thank you. How we do. Sorry. Maria. Maybe to add, given our topics that we see context and system in our consciousness and in the room, because it's so easy to fall into blaming ourselves and each other for some of the painful truths that we uncover about our status in this field. So I would just have to give them a topic, something I'd like to add a bit. I and others hold a sense of context and history and systems while we have this conversation. Well put. Remember context. How we do. I want to go back to one, because you talked about the word space came up, and I feel like that scene is so broad. I don't know that we talk collectively, but I feel like it's much of a city around that, and a little bit important. I don't know if it would stay the same or not. I would ask that questions listening in the same space where people constantly listen and don't just think about what you're about to say to them. That's one ear to the hand space. Or maybe to pull the list together. Yes. Yes. It's not a separate thing. It's just a simulation. Beautiful way to think about it. In no particular order, y'all. Self-regulation. You've had you. Making no assumptions. That may be an alignment with judgment. So if there's an uncomfortable moment and you walk out, please know that I'm not leaving because I'm uncomfortable. I have to go. But then I also have to deal with the broader covering of let's make no assumptions about anything. And I guess that might also be being open. Yep. No assumptions. I always remember that from childhood. Makes a ass out of you and me. Really? Some people haven't heard that. I heard that on Marty Miller. I don't remember where I got it from. I just remember it from childhood. You assume you make an ass out of you and me. Wisdom from the ages. Yes. I'm going to add to what Mariah was saying around safe space. Acknowledging that everyone's emotional responses to maybe things that are being said are okay. We don't necessarily have to be responsible or accountable to everyone's emotions, but just to respect what their responses are. Respect what their responses are. So I'll do respect point of views and responses. Excellent. Thank you. I'm going to say ask and own. Ask with your information that you don't understand or don't know, and then own what it is that you're offering. All right then. I like that. Let's hear it. Ask and phone. Mariah, I have a point. Listening. Listening for understanding and not for to be. So instead of me trying to listen to all the different points that I'm going to go back to, to actually listen to what the person is saying and try to take it in. I'm trying so hard not to bring Beyonce right now, but listen. Was that Beyonce or Jennifer Hudson? Did that listen wrong? Beyonce. All right. I do it in the whole space of opening my mouth and sorry to say this myself. I'm just wondering if there's a way or something said that a person doesn't understand if there's a way of sort of asking a question about that or if there's some sort of way of like clarification. Yeah. I think this is the space where if anything you said that you know, I've heard it called like a literacy moment or you know, like I don't know what you're talking about right now. You're talking sort of through something. And I actually am lost on the first thing that you talked about. So I mean I think asking for clarification. I don't know that. What's that? A literacy moment? Yeah. Okay. I'm just wondering if there is some space in the tab with so many different configurations of course of our time. So at one point it might be you and your partner directly and you can ask that person directly or at another point it can be like you just did with this entire group. You know, how it feels right. Releasing the necessity to know and understand. You know, like it's okay if I don't understand. It's okay if I don't know in this present moment. But that's okay too. That's all good. You know, not knowing is all good too. It's okay not to know. Also being honest and reflective. Taking a moment to, you know, step back and say where am I in this conversation or how am I. And also being honest about it. So I guess along saying, like I don't know, but just being honest about it and honest, like we all are individuals that make up the community in this space right now and we can always fall back on the community that we're building. So being honest and reflective. Honest and reflective. And the other thing I want to pull out from what you just said is be willing to step back, knowing to step back and knowing to step up. You know, to make sure that we have enough space for all of our voices together. So I'll write that on here too, if I may. Let's get maybe three more if there are more to say. More three more to say. And if not, you can move on for three more. I'm trying to remember. Maybe you know this or Maria. People who facilitate is something like ouch and oops. That if somebody says something that like, you know, pricks or you can say ouch out loud just to acknowledge that. And then there's a moment to come back later to kind of unpack what happened. So just to offer, I forget what it's called, something like that. Like ouch and then I don't remember what it was, but you know what I'm talking about? Yeah, I think we should, I mean, I think that that's, yeah, we'll be working a lot in small groups and do like this, we won't be coming back to this big group a lot because we want for people to get a chance to talk and when you stay in the big group for a long time, fewer voices get to rise to the surface. So, yeah. So I think there'll also be an intimate ways in which to voice that that might be formal or might not be as formal, but yeah. Speaking from personal experience, the I versus we, especially since it can happen that we can be put into one big lump. All right. So finding that personal and individual experience. Speak from personal experience. And lastly, okay. Lastly, do we collectively agree to everything that we've got on these two sheets? Yes. Can you like place your hands forward and circle like I offer this? I offer this. Oh, yeah, great, great. Let's recap. Okay. Let me know what I'm going to say. Hello. You want me to read this one? Do you read that one? Yes. That's fine. How we do one like sharing space, ask and own, respect points of view, different points of view, and the responses that they engender. This is a judgment free zone. It is a safe, although not necessarily comfortable space stay present. Remember our context. Conscious listening. No assumptions because assuming. Make the app not even near me. Boom. That's how you win a spelling bee. Listen again because it bears repeating. It's okay not to know. And I think before that came literacy moment like this one. Honest. Be honest and reflective. Step back and step up. Ouch. So acknowledging when something has stepped over a certain boundary for you. While also recognizing safe but not comfortable. Speak from personal experience. The I and not the we. Okay. So now can we put our body in it a little bit? Like something like, you know, some part of you like place some part of you that's important. So and then take one of those hands and place one of those hands some part on some part of you that feels like it's significant to agree to this. And if it's your gut bone or your heart or you don't feel comfortable or you don't feel comfortable. You know that you're really like you're offering that forward from this place in you. It's still you. I know. Yeah. That's great. All right. So the next step is to find somebody in the room that you do not know. Cross over and make their acquaintance. And as soon as you find that person we are going to be able to do that. So don't find them inside chat because then you'll not be able to hear what comes next. But you know, real Gs move in silence like lasagna. So we have space now. All right. If you can hear the sound of my voice clap one. If you hear the sound of my voice clap twice. Is there anybody who has not yet partnered or till looking? Boom. See that's a good way to find one of those. I don't know you. I know both of them. Look here. She said I know both of them too. Look. You got to look. Look. Oh, but you all can swap though. Come on. Come on. Ebony. Definitely know one another really well. Let's see. Or join a group that you don't know. Okay. We're just going to take a couple of minutes. And the time is very important because we're going to have a series of questions that happen here. So the first question that you are going to ask and answer for each other is what brought you here? What brought you here? It can be a hope. It can be an experience. It can be an idea. It can be whatever it is for you. So please ask and answer for each other. What brought you here? I'm like, let me know your name. That's really weird. Wow. Okay. I'm like, let me know your name. That's really weird. Wow. Okay. That's really weird. Wow. Okay. Okay. Oh, yeah. I want to put sound. I don't want to put sound so much. But I live in a high heart. I live in 54 different homes. And my home life is a private life. Yeah. And we were married for a long time. We were married for a long time. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Oh, right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. I live in a high heart. Right. Right. So okay. All right. Great. Right. Okay. Making me happy, keep going. Okay. Show. That's all I'm saying. What is this? This is like this. That's all I'm saying. How do you do that? I'm like, yeah. You're just like this. Alright. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What did you want to do, Ago? I made some dinner listening for you. Ago! Let's do how we do. So also, we're here and this is a gathering of... Maybe everybody in the room does not identify themselves as a dancer, even though I always like to argue around that. But you know we can't get out of here without doing some movement. So we're going to be doing a little bit of movement all the way through this. And this first time you're doing movement, it's just a movement, a gesture, something quick to reflect back your listening to your partner. So what you heard but interpreted through, synthesized through your body. So it's just a quicker, like this will be a more short conversation. But one at a time just reflecting that. Or both together, like however you... I don't know how y'all do your conversation. So you should do your dance, how you did your conversation. Ago! I know your mouth is a part of your body, but can you try... You already used your mouth. So now can you do your dance with your mouth? Can I give you some choreography for your mouth? While you're still in silence, find somebody else in the room that you do not know and move towards that person. Is there anybody who does not have a partner raise their hand? So the question that you're now going to ask each other and answer for each other is who brought you here? Who brought you here? And I don't necessarily mean the Uber driver or the train driver. Although if that's part of your story, then that's part of your story. But I'm talking about somebody who's been formative in your development as a dancer, as a choreographer, as a scholar, as a professional dancer. And I think that's one way to do it is to be formative in your development as a dancer, as a choreographer, as a scholar, as a performer, in whatever capacity that you're here as. Who brought you here? Thank you. Thank you. I feel like my circle was mad at myself. This is going to be fabulous, too. I would just add that. Like, giving a goal to these two. I'm so proud of myself. And you wanted to be a dancer. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. I'm so proud of myself. Oh, wow. Oh, my gosh. Let's say like this is one half of the room and then this is another half of the room. Let's keep, let's put you all on this side. For the purposes of sharing sort of across the room or for the larger energy of our collective, we're going to, I'm going to ask that you now embody these two, I mean you may have talked about more than two people, so it might be multiple embodying, but quick embodying for the other half of the room. So if they get a sense of what, who this half of the room is bringing with you, like what the power of the folks you're bringing with you into the room who helps bring you here is, and then this other side will share with this side. So it's just about, it's not a performance, it's a sharing of that energy. Yes. And asking for clarification. Yes. Of course. Okay. I'm not quite sure. We all, just a moment ago we all sort of danced our listening or we embodied our listening to the story. Now we're embodying the energy of both the person that we talked about that we brought into the room, but I, we can't help but be influenced by the story that we just heard too. So you're, and it could be a, I mean we're not, I'll cut you off. It goes very, very, very, very well even though I'm sure that your person deserves a full length, I mean for the purposes of time, but something that feels like the essence. So we're looking for the essence of the in movement in your body, the essence of the person you brought into the room, but also will be influenced by what you heard about the person that you're, the people you shared with if there were a trio brought into the room too. So it's, it's another kind of distilling of your listening and the story you just told. Now we were doing the what got you here. So are we embodying a person first question? Oh, okay. But embody what got you here? That's what you talked about. Okay. So we were also talking about who brought us here. Okay. Yeah. So this is about the who you had back. Yeah. So in any case, as a large group, you're going to share that energy through movement with the other side of the room. And then when you're finished, this other group will share their energy. This group is going first. You're all going together. You're all creating a collective energy that is, that is at once your own body in the space. Yeah, I know it's kind of esoteric, but it's kind of how we do too. That you're embodying both who you are in the space, your body in the space. But also you just talked about who, who brought you here. So you're also bringing them into the space. We spoke names of people earlier. Now you're moving those people into the space, that energy into the space. We're just kind of trying to pepper season the container that we're in with all of what we bring to it. So let's, I don't know what season in you brought, but it's your turn to throw it in the pot. So this group is witnessing now, which is also how we do. Yeah, okay. Great. Good group listening. Good group listening. Five, six, seven, eight. Michael Jackson says. Now too. I know you're sharing in a moment, so let's honor that. But also now they're sharing, so this group is witnessing. Great. We're going to do more group work, but let's open up a little bit back into the circle and be ready to move back up. But as you're moving back to the circle, I just want you to be thinking about processing what you just witnessed and what you just experienced through the telling, because we're going to harvest a little bit of that information. So what did you experience? What happened? We're going to collect a few things, a few, what happened? Rhythm. Rhythm. Slash. Visualization. So we hope to continue to build on all of those kinds of experiences. And part of the reason I'm asking you to reflect on them is you're going to be synthesizing what you take from this. So containers be created with certain tasks attached to them, but I'm not creating your experience. So I think you making meaning of your experience as we move through is a critical part of how we move through the world. And so I just encourage you to continue to be processing through how you were making meaning individually, not necessarily how I'm not going to prompt you to have a certain meaning attached to any of this. I do know that we've all come here for different reasons. I mean, I can hear some of, you know, there's a wide range. There are many different reasons to come here as there are people in the room that we come from different places that we have a variety of experiences. And although we do share some things that bring us to this room together, there are ways in which our multiple identities might intersect, might be in tension, might be coincidence, or might be deliberate. So we're going to tease out some more of these identifiers and have some more conversations specific to dance. And I invite you to make some choices among those in the way that we know as we navigate landscape. You know, I may do multiple things, but in this moment I'm going to choose like, okay, this is the group that I'm going to be a part of in order to move a conversation forward. I know that as I'm asking you to select any one of these groups, I'm also telling you that you can't be in the group that's next to you in the room, even though that might also be your group for the purposes of, I mean, I'm Gemini, so I might be able to do that, but I haven't mastered that superpower yet. So I recognize at the outset just in all transparency that any number of us in the room might belong to all of the groups that are being presented and I'm asking you to choose for the purposes of group learning and for your purposes of your own teasing out information and getting to know one another better. So we're going to start, so we're going to move around in the room again. We're going to start with something related to our, I'll say early dance experience, but if you find that something else feels more present for you, like, no, actually I'd like to identify the thing that I'm really in right now. That's fine. Like, this is a prompt, but not a rule. No one's going to go around and check your ID on this. So I want to ask you to put yourself into groupings and then you'll get the next prompt once you get there. According to significant, and I'm saying early experience of dance form, so significant, something that's helped to shape where you are, something that feels palpable to you, present to you right now. A significant early dance form, and I'm going to propose three categories, which are not exhaustive categories that probably encompass everything that everyone in the room experiences. And if you find that you cannot select any of these categories, then we need to make another one. So I'm also open to sharing. So if you feel like, for you present right now, one of the most significant early experiences of a dance form is an African diaspora form or a non-western dance technique. If that feels significant to you, don't move yet because I'll read all three. If that feels significant to you, then you'll meet over in this space. If a modern slash ballet technique, western form feels like, oh, that was really a significant early dance experience for me, then you'll meet on this side of the room. And if a social dance form, including clubs or family gatherings or like living room or something feels significant for you in this moment, then this will be the space that you would gather in. In those three categories, is there anyone sort of left without a place to go? I'm going to go to all of them. Yes and no. Just which one you resonate the most with? Yeah, at this point. It could be that it was an early formative thing, or it could be just like, no, that's the one I feel like when you brought it up, I felt like, oh, that's the one I need to go to. I know Dr. B. T. G. I laid all that out for you. Great work, yes. Does everybody feel like they have some place to go? Great. I'll actually lay out for you right now. You're going to go to this space and put yourself in groupings of three, and then you'll look back at me. So you'll go to the space, applicant diameter or non-western form, ballet or modern, social dance club, etc. I think we are in front of each other. Ignore me as you see fit, and then we can come back together. This dance practice informs, or is part of, or lives in, or shapes your work now. And can you relate to a person, or a community, or a particular experience? What's sort of symbolic of how this form impacts you? It could be your dance practice, but it could just be something about the way the form even carried over. We know that dance practice has resonance in all parts of our lives, so I think just talk about what it is about this form that has meaning for you today. So are you talking in group? Yeah, in your group. We think you're in group. Yeah, you're talking with each other in the group. And we'll give you a little more time than last time. I'll check on you later. Switch on your audio. Listen to your audio. You've got five questions in it. You're going to put it on your home. It's more like that. It's more like that. Do you want me to go there? Okay, so fuck it. Yeah, I'm like, okay, go. I guess me, it actually doesn't matter. Back at the end of my dance break. You were doing that. You did not see. So, who is that? Oh, they don't call us. So, who is that? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It's Friday and holiday, so it's great to be here like this. It's a good day of nothing. It's just as great. It's just as great. It's just as great. It's just as great. It's just as great. It's just as great. It's just as great. We have a map on out. I go! I go! I go! Yeah, I'm checking in with you. So, I'm gonna give you a little more time, but I'd also like to layer into that time. that time, if you all can be thinking a little bit about how what you've said so far and maybe what you're gonna continue to say and a little more time, like two minutes. May be framed in terms of values and assets that you bring into the room. So how these conversations you're having, how are values and assets a part of what you've already been talking about? Again? We'll talk about who we're talking about. Please come up here. Please come up here. This is a crazy thing! We have to get up to the level of head, and then we have to go down to the level of head. Now, we're at a place where we are just going to be honest and show who you are. And we're going to be honest and show who you are. I mean, there's no way that we're going to be honest and we have to get up to the level of head. and other colors that make that, it's a lot of training and work. I was in a free session, I knew that I would be on the college in the next year, and I was in a free session. I was in a free session, I was in a free session. I knew that I would be on the college, and I was in a free session. I'm in my areas of study, and I'm thinking it's all about to study. Yeah so I'm thinking I'm격 that I would be on that as well. That's one of the things that I wanted to say about college is that my A little bit of a pause if I was missing something. I didn't talk about it before. I didn't talk about it before. Oh, yeah. And like so. Now I'm just going to have to- Great. I'm just going to pass. Thank you. You're done, thank you. You did sound to my voice, don't you? I gave you, I think, a little bit. Just so you have a durational sense, so the next time I say two minutes and I hold you two and you're like, well, that did not feel like the last two minutes because it wasn't. So, uh, to largely stay within You'll largely probably get this day within your form that you just found out. We're going to start to combine groups so that you, like moving with your group to form a group of six or seven. So some of you have four, so you might be looking for a group of three to join up with. Some of you are in groups of three, so you might be looking for another group of three to join up with, or a group of four. So you're basically, two groups are going to combine now, two of your small groups are going to combine to form a group of six or a group of seven. Let me know if you end up having issues with that, but I think the diaspora group might have to migrate to other groups. Okay, you guys are right here. Have another group to combine, so you'll just be a group of four. No, because then that'll get ugly. Y'all will be like 30 minutes in and everyone else will be finished because we're going to tell stories. And each person's going to get time to tell stories, and if you have a really big group, then you all won't all get to tell your stories at the same amount of time. So stating your group four, that's great. I mean, the other option is to let you out and put you in a group of six, like add each of you to a different group of six. Are y'all doing well? If you are, where are my groups of six? Can you raise your hands? One, two, three. Groups of six. So we only have three groups of six anyway, so just stating your group four. So first of all, I mean, you all didn't all have the conversation with one another, so really thinking about values and assets, share out, and I'm really only going to give you like a minute for this, to share out like the things that really rose to the surface in your small groups around values and assets. And some of you are sharing across form, so you might just notice. So your groups are sharing what surface in your small groups are. Thanks a lot. I just want to try it. I've never seen one. So it's like you're just without the legs. Hi. Hi. I'm Melanie. Melanie. Hi. Yes. I'm not. Are we going around? We can say, yeah. We don't know. I'm Asia. I'm either in USA. I'm either in Europe. I'm either in the US. I'm either in Europe. I'm either in the US or in the US. I'm either in the US or in the US. I'm either in Europe. You all knew each other. I'm either in the US or in the US, or in the US. So let's pause for a second because you're going to have a bolt more time with this particular group. So that was just to kind of get you into your groupings and they just met. They introduced themselves. Which I think is appropriate. That's what you did. Yeah. It's not, you know, what in your minute of sharing assets. But the thing is I'm setting up ways in which you can interact and you can choose like, you know what, actually we need to all say our names first and that's it. So don't feel any kind of way. You're going to have time in this group now. So before we move forward with where we're going next with this group, which I think will continue to surface assets, values, the stories of each person within this group. Maybe the ways in which you have connectivity, maybe the ways in which you have difference and how each of you are individuals and part of this whole. So I invite you to find as many of you have a place where you could comfortably spend some time with one another. That might be pulling up chairs that, you know, so because you're going to spend some time in these. And is this what we are going to, what you just said, or do you want to get more instructions? No, so now there's going to be more instructions. But right now you're just going to be in, your one instruction is to get comfortable. So I'm noticing already, so Shani is going to give some instructions and stories circle in a moment. But if you need to go to the bathroom, you, some people have gone right now. So this is, this is kind of where you can go. Right? It's not really a problem. Yeah. There's two. There's on this side and on this side. Yeah. Oh. I didn't shift to a new. Okay. Now what was it that you were going to say? I'm going to say no. I'm going to go right next to you. Because we're going to move on to a new thing. So yeah. Now Angie, what was it that you wanted to say? Introduce yourself. Yeah. Thank you all for absorbing a new person. Thank you. Thank you all for absorbing a new person into your group. Welcome. Thank you. In Asian music. I know that you are, I know that you are. I know that you are right now. I agree with that. I know it's because of... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Come on. What I was trying to say was, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, It wasn't for that multiplication. It's sometimes too complicated. I don't know about the weight. It's like we're doing this for you. I know. It is. It's not the next one. So hey y'all. We're going to take two for fruit. Everybody's going to take two more minutes since people have come out. But that's really a hard time to get. Everybody needs to be in the room since this is what's already happening. Since this is what's already happening. It just didn't happen. I see fruit in there. Yes, exactly. Get your fruit. Harvey, get it! Get it! Get it! Spaghetti face. I got down here around this room. Hey! Over there. Oh. Are you here with us through the end? Yes. Okay. Join this group right here with me because they only had five. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hello. How are you? I'm okay. Yeah, I'm fine. How are you? I'm just fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. We can continue. I don't know where we're going right now. I can't even tell you just B. The whole thing. Just B. But no, that's B. On my side, I said B. That's what I did with the whole thing. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. What am I thinking? I haven't got time yet. In any way, doing, one of the biggest influences in my life that shapes the work that I do is my family. And my history come from a family full of change makers and educators and artists and people who are committed to us. And one of those people that I'm going to call his name right now in this space is my uncle John O'Neill who was a co-founder of Free Southern which is a cultural armistice. And also Junebug Productions which FST morphed into in 1980 in New Orleans. And Junebug is still in operation today. Many of y'all know Stephanie McKee who is currently running Junebug. One of the tools that Uncle John put together that I find extremely useful in youth in a number of different spaces has been the story circle process. And so what we're going to do is I'm going to lay out some of the rules of how this process works. And if I miss anything, those of you who participated in them before please feel free to jump in and share that with the group. One of the most important parts of this is that this is a radically democratic process. Each person is going to have the same amount of time to give their story. For the purposes of this exercise we're going to ask everybody to stay three minutes or less. Three minutes or less. It sounds like a little time, it's a lot. The person or the group? Sorry? Each person. Each person or the per person? Per person. So we're going to go around in the circle in the groups that you're currently in with each person having three minutes or less. And as part of that I need to know that there's a time piece in every group. If you have a watch or a cell phone or something that can keep time, can you please raise your hand to make sure everybody has it or grabs it? Is there any group now that does not have a time piece in your group? Okay so what we're going to ask you all to do rather than have one person who's tasked with keeping the time and then can't be fully engaged with every story as it happens, is that you pass that time piece around so that the person next to you, when you're coming to say two minutes and thirty seconds, just lets you know. And then pass that around. Is that clear? Okay great. We're going to go in order, whoever wants to start and you'll go around in order. If you're not ready to speak, it's okay to say pass and then the group can come back to you after everybody else has finished telling their stories. Listening, conscious listening, again listening, is a really important part of this process. More than talking. So you don't want to come to it with this story I'm going to tell. Trust the circle and trust the story that it shares and perhaps catalyze or spark whatever may come to mind for you in your deepest, truest place when it's your turn. And allow that to be what you share. So when you're going around in your three minutes each, everybody has their three minutes. No questions, no cross talk, no anything except giving respect and honor to that person to tell their story. And if there's time at the end after everybody has gone, then there's room for internal discussion and cross talk. You want to choose one story. One story. And if there are several that emerge for you again, trust the circle to feel which one you want to contribute to your space. You don't have to take all three minutes too, right? So if your story concludes after one, okay, you know, let's see. Silence is okay. Don't feel when it's your turn that, oh my god, I'm up. You know, if you need to take a moment and sit with yourself before you share, that's okay. And we ask everybody else in your circle just to respect that. I think that's it. Have I missed anything community? Maybe. Is there a story prompt or I'm going to give you the prompt. Okay, sorry. Anything else from those of y'all who have participated in the story circle before? Is everything clear about how it goes down? Okay, great. So the prompt is intentionally broad. Share a pivotal moment in your journey. Share a pivotal moment. One pivotal moment in your journey. Perhaps how you navigated it, who was there, the when, the how. You know, when you think about telling a story, like perhaps how you navigate it. You know, just so you, okay, tell a little moment in my journey. You know, when was it? Where did it happen? Who was there? How were you navigating? How did you feel? How do you feel about it now? It could be something from yesterday. It could be something from last year. It could be something from 20 years ago. It could be resolved. It could be open. No story is too small. So don't feel like, oh, somebody told this story about the moment they decided to form the, you know, I don't know if my, you know, that there's room in here. You all have already been experiencing the spectrum of who you all are. So honor that in these circles. And if you wait the same moment, you mean in the most sense, I'm assuming. Absolutely. Okay. Right. It's not a F5 or 3 on the right where you're going to paint the eye. Unless that's your story. Okay. Right. So we are going to start our collective thoughts and have that a joke. Oh, one thing I would say, sorry to interject this, because I see you all are kind of looking at, oh, who's going to time and who's going to give the person who's speaking, you know, maybe you pass it along and the person next to them time. Oh, you did. And to just give them a warning. Great. I did. Sorry. Just to make sure you're really giving people a warning before their time is up. Yeah. They're going to start doing the wrong thing out there. Okay. So, who's starting? Oh, who's strong? I don't know. Is this right now? This is a little bit of a statement. My life was a little bit of a year ago. I was very excited. Very unexpected. Excuse me. And the last one? That's what I was trying to say. She said she was done. That was the only reason I said she was done. I'm just asking for clarification. She's been done. That would have been possible. Okay. Are we doing what she just did right now? After everyone's done. That's what I wanted to say. I think we should just let the person decide if it's okay if they say they're done. Can't you just let each person decide if they want to talk? If they want to, just kind of sit down. Oh yeah. Oh yeah, I don't think we should do that. I would suggest that we do. So everybody's done with it. Or if it's enough to choose. Do these things. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And you don't have to use that to interrogate you. Not that that's what you do. No, I know. I don't actually agree with what you're saying. Yeah, I think we shouldn't have this conversation at the moment. In three minutes we should start. So a good number of years ago, at Duke University, the America Dance Festival, I was attending as an assistant to Deborah Jowell. And she was teaching dance writing, dance criticism, specifically. And so I was taking the courses of the class with her and I had a buddy, another writer and guy who read some of my work and said, you know, you're working entirely too hard. And, you know, this is very, very early on for me. So I had like no conception of what was necessary to put into a piece and what was not. I just wanted to be, you know, conscientious and to be perfect and whatever that meant to me at that moment. I didn't know that I could kind of relax around it and, you know, absorb what was meaningful to me and give that back to people who would read what I would read. And I'm like, it's funny because I don't really think about that moment a lot. I haven't said that to me, but when she gave that prompt, that's what I thought was just a sense of, freedom that you have when you sit down with that kind of freedom and have so much fun. You know, letting the stuff come through you, it's like you're having learned that lesson over those years of just kind of, I don't know about yourself, I don't know about your perfectionism. Just be with this work that you're seeing. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I was going to pass, but I was like, no, don't pass. So I think one thing that I've discovered for the past few years is just so... I was exposed to young guys who were dancing as a young child. I was going to teach them to dance, and it was important to do it. And I started out as the only Black student by the time I was born. It was the time I had some Florida. And she didn't know, like, the time. She knew what she was doing, what she taught what she knew. And since then, I've traveled to the past, and I've traveled to Brazil, and to the future. I think maybe at a time where I was really... Well, I'm still doing it, but I think I definitely was looking for something. And so I guess in the story, this is the realization that I think all of that traveling brought me back. And I found myself in all of those moments, just like all of these, just the same. All of the same things. I was just like, oh, I want to put this the same way. Oh, there's my grandmother in church. So I found myself finding this connection that I was talking about. And like, instead of really being what I thought I was going to be doing, which is what I'm seeing in traditions, I ended up focusing on connections. And I was thinking, man, just kind of realizing that how I orient myself as a Black, English person is really as I know it. As a nomadic person, that place where I understand myself the best is in my body. And that actually facilitated the connections that I often value at the top of my list of things to value those connected ones. As opposed to a lot of things that are something specific for my life. So I guess the story is just about processing that. I am kind of a nomadic person and I accept you that for myself and not allow everybody to make, I don't know, create a situation where that's not about me. And I'm speaking about particularly about you know, sometimes over innovative where as I think they maybe should be the same. Or at least that's the best way that it works for me. So about 14 years ago, I was 10 years thinking about two children. And I have to deal with everything that I've done. And my career as a nomadic person from that point becoming a single mother has been about proving myself to be a success, proving myself to be more than just a woman. And I came to New York probably about four years after I became a nomadic person. It's been about a lot of things. I had to presume I forgot where I did all that but I think I got a mission and I was probably shifted but I was also always very broke. So I was very broke. And in the last year, around this time, I found myself in this precarious situation where I had been teaching at a class of two in New York for seven years. And I reached a point where I was almost going to be considered a 15-year fact and I had a slave that was going for a world film, and I had a relationship that I had been together with for 13 years and everything needed to happen. None of those things were sustainable. Things that I thought were meant for my success. And I had to go high for a job where I'm now gender discrimination in our place and many other individuals and I had to pull my place because I was a producer and it was dishonest and it didn't raise the value that needed to be raised. I had to issue a real concept and I had to break up with the person that I thought I was going to be. So the relationship was toxic. And at that point, I mean, I got the feel for three years ago at that point, one year ago I thought that everything I had been working toward that felt so close was just completely wasted and that I was not being the success that I needed to be for my daughter and for myself. But it was really just a flood and the largest flood and it wasn't the end of anything, it was just the beginning and thanks for that for the strength to be able to do all of those things I thought I'd be working toward. Yeah. The morning pages are the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the It's just part of it, I think, that got elegance from it. And that just made it much better. And when I get on that, I see it around the house, and I feel like that's made it much better. I don't think that's so simple to forget. It's a game. But it felt informed, like it got it upset me. So there's something about this one, which is the one that started making decisions about that thing, about that family, about what that's like. There's this thing, the thing that I was like, I don't know, I don't see what that's about. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. It's a game. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Now, take a seat. Thank you for the respectful way you all were sharing your stories like it was palpable from the outside, just the way it was such, I don't know, there was just such an attentive listening in the room. So yeah, thank you for that. I want to take a moment before we're going to do some very quick modes of synthesis. And we know we're sort of running down to our time and there's some stuff that logistically has to happen for this larger gathering as part of this last bit of time we have. I suspect the time that Camille and Indira have carved out for that and not run over into it and then have them sort of feeling stressed to get out of the state. So let's come to a comfortable place where you can move and that could be standing or it could be, I think you all make a choice. I feel like there should be a choice in this, you know, yeah. So quickly and quietly come to, in your circle still, you're still in your circle. Come to a comfortable place where you might move your body in your circle. You can put your stuff to the side for now because you're going to be processing some more in different ways. Great. So reforming your circle, if your circle has dissipated, reforming it quickly. So you're going to do some moving synthesis. So you're going to, through your own body, synthesize the ideas that have come through, but we're going to do it like in a way, you know, kind of like, you know, that kind of thing. Except not, you don't have to do that. But you did do that. I hope you do it much better than I just did it. But you're, each person is going to, just like you passed the story through, now you're going to pass the energy of the stories through the circle. But now your body is in, all of the stories are inhabiting the body. So just where you are now in your body, now that these stories have been put into the pot and are part of your experience. So it's quick, it's not for any one person. The same way we talked about equity of time in the story circle, each person had three minutes. These are quick synthesis. I'm doing it, I'm synthesizing it, I'm letting it bubble up and then I'm passing it to the next person. Whoever decides to go first gets to choose what direction it goes in and then the energy just flows until it comes back to the original person. Does that make sense? So it probably shouldn't take more than like a minute at the tops. Okay? So the whole thing happened, it just once around. I mean, if the time is still going, other people are still going. I mean, I could see some group being like, well, they're still going. So yes, it's just once around, but yeah. So allow the movement, the energy of the stories to move through your bodies and through your collective body of the circle. One person picks to go and then pick which direction you're going in. This is great. So we're going to take you through some more processing of what came up. So feel free to either stand or sit, whatever. It's comfortable for you for this next part. So let's just take the temperature of the room. How did it feel to you, the story circle process? I can't hear you all. I mean, I might have to write some stuff down. So, okay. I was just saying, how did it feel to you? It felt like a relief. In a way? Out and in. Like listening. It felt like it was just like, like when water absorbs into the skin or something like that. Beautiful. So often in life, you're talking and thinking what you're going to say next or, you know, going back and forth and I like absorbing the thought without, I mean, thinking but you're not going to answer. And just hearing the stories of like, that was a good metaphor of the water. It felt so intimate. Really, really intimate. I felt like I was listening to people tell their stories about listening to themselves. How did it feel? I feel so related to each one of them. Can you speak up please? I said that I felt so related to each one of them. And I felt really connected to each one of them. And I felt like I know them for so long in a different place. I'd say it felt so real to be in a room full of people, but only really seeing the people right in front of me. And so everyone else came, it became like a landscape or background. And I really saw these people and it felt like a little intimate bubble. Were there any commonalities that you noticed that arose between the stories and you don't necessarily need to say what the stories were, but what did you notice? Commonalities or differences that emerged within your groups? In a way that meant I could take a risk, I mean, taking composure and risk. Risk. So managing and negotiating that. I think it's a lot of gratitude that I sense too. It's like when memories come up, it helps me to say, oh yeah, that person was important. That was a pivotal person. So I heard that, I also heard a lot about joy. And the two things I think are very connected. Yes, gratitude and joy. I heard deadlines or something running out of time or sitting in a timeline, a deadline for yourself or saying my time in this space is done. The presence of family, whether the story was about... Did you say that louder? The presence of family, whether the story had specifically to do with a family member or just family was a part of the landscape, part of the context and history of the story. Self-reflection and personal evaluation. I heard a lot of that. Did somebody say... No? Did somebody say... Empowerment, self-reflection, family. A recognition of change or transformation where what you do has to shift. Transformation. Choosing a path and honoring it. So this final question may dovetail into some of the responses that you've given, but it is when you reflect on this experience that we've shared in this room, what are your primary takeaways? What are your takeaways? Finding a strong faith within a neighbor. Authenticity. Authenticity. The importance of leadership. And community. The importance of stepping outside your box. Knowing yourself, listening to yourself. And listening to yourself and others. Knowing that being uncomfortable and unscrolling. The prime of the interesting teacher if you have patience. Seeing yourself through all that. I'm sorry? Seeing yourself through all that. Yes. There are some windows as you see a question. How feeding and affirming it is to see and talk with a lot of people of color in damp. To not just be the two in the court, you know, in the bathroom. I feel fed by people that I see in different pockets. We all exist at the same time in one place. I want to say to the joy of that. I want to remember that we can gather more than once. We'll thank God for Camille doing this. And then we all continue to gather in more times like this. The moments of similarity and commonality, even though I know we're all from different places, it's just nice to connect and be like, yes, yes, yes. Any other takeaways from our time together today? The possibility of existing in my full self. And being seen and witnessed in that. And also to be able to witness others. Trust in the circle that when the containers created, the right stories come. Love that. How easy it can be to see someone else. Having to explain either your blackness or your gender, then these stories start to flow that make it more universal. And leave it universal and individual at the same time. Because I'm listening to this person talking now. She had been in a performance. She first had to be like, oh, I'm just black. I'm doing this, but it's like, no. I am a person getting an education. And this is the struggle that I had. And this is my personal journey or struggling with trying to create a solo or producing your own work or dealing with jobs. Once all of you get past the mask, then it's like, oh, heart to heart. Connections. Heart to heart, thanks. Vulnerability. Being vulnerable and not feeling okay to be kind of vulnerable in a fake. Not for me personally, but on other spaces with dancing bodies. I don't know if I feel vulnerable to feel something that personal. Or if I tell the story with the non-dancers. I don't feel like I'm judged. Not being afraid to take on space. And I think that's a good thing. I think as beings, we have a right and a passage to ourselves and to think back on it for us. To be that sort of being that spiritual conduit and also to be fearless in self. So I think taking some space and being that sacred and going through a power and understanding of your magic. That is the argument going forward. No your magic. So now that we've taken this time in a group, let me just say thank you all for bringing your full, authentic, open, vulnerable, brilliant, talented selves into this space. For deciding how we were going to create it. And then honoring that. We're now going to transition from the group exercise into a more individualized exercise to close. And I'm going to pass to Paloma to talk to you more about what that will look like. Great. So you can still come back to the space where your group is because I think you deposited some energy there hopefully that might be useful in the next thing we'll do. But could you grab a pen or a pencil and if you don't have a writing implement, can you come see Indira? Yeah, pass it on. Your neighbor might have one though. Your neighbor might have one though. I had a two-year-old. I know, yeah. Oh wait. Every one's fine. How many do you have? I don't know. Great. So come back to where you are. I'm going to play with you right now. I'm going to play with you right now. I'm going to play with you. I'm going to play with you right now. Maybe you just want to get your pencil. They came back. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. You want to play with me? Yeah, it's fun. Yeah. It's special. It's special. It's so late. Wait. How'd that work out? It's not in white. That's just a marathon. Everything is exciting. And all you do is just try to sit down. Let's grab your pen or pencil. If you don't have one, you're never going to get one. Find your way back to where your group was because there's paper waiting there for you. And you each should grab a couple sheets. If your group doesn't have paper in your area, let me know. Or if you don't have a group in your area, come here and have a tea. Who would you say they'd be? No. She's a girl. Yes, Indira is going... Oh, she's going around with a pen. If anybody in the room happens... I think Indira is getting pens for people, so just be patient and raise your hands. When the pens come back in, she'll let you know. I do, I do. Oh, there's sharpies. We have more sharpies over here. Or if anyone else in another group has an extra pen. Come on, sharpies. Come on, sharpies. Come on, sharpies. Who else needs pens? Raise your hand. You can take several sheets of paper. If you have sharpies, we're going to need more. If you need more paper, we have more. If you need some, we'll pass it around. But I want to give you your prop, so you have a little bit of time to write. Yeah. You're not doing group work anymore, but I just brought you back to your group area because I feel like you have energy in that space. So now you're going to write yourself a letter to remind yourself of what you want to take with you from this moment that you've had together here. Whatever part of the moment feels like oh, I want to take that with me. You know, like it could be, oh. I mean, it's not, what we're going to do is we're going to have you address an envelope to yourself. We're going to send it back to you in six months. So whatever it takes months, you want to be reminded about? About what happened here for you. It doesn't mean you have to say, oh, this and this and this. Our types are mobile, and so we can talk about how if you have an individual case where you're like I don't really know about where to send this to me. That's real, so come and see us and we'll try to figure something out around that. But I want you to have some time right now because you've really only got like maybe 10 minutes. So write a letter to yourself. What do you want to carry away with you? Thank you. January 2006. Indira has passed out envelopes for everyone. So write your address in there. And like I said, if you have, if that's complicated, then come and see us after. If Indira has a basket, you can drop it in that basket. And then you can make your way back to the big circle, the outskirts somewhere so that we can do a closing. And deposited in here, let's quickly move back to the large circle just so we can do a proper closing with one another. It's the time you've spent. Okay. I'm not sure whether I'm going to get you out of my view. Hello! Let's get on our feet. We have to be with the state brought to every other moment, like our time that we leave, likely never convened of these particular people again. So this is a historic moment in that way. Indira, welcome to the circle. So we just want to take a moment to take a collective breath. We'll be together again. We'll be together again. We'll be together again. We'll be together again. We'll be together again. And to laugh a bit. And to put some good juju on these letters that we wrote for ourselves. We've come together. We are a week. We have, because we've done the work of weaning us. And listen. That's how we do. And I'm so thankful for this group, this trust, this time. If we could close out, just by each of us and be overlapping, just allowing yourself one more layer of synthesis. One more layer of synthesis that distilled us to a word that we really just want to put back into the space for one another. So the letters are about what we want to take away with us, but what do we want to put back for this last sealed moment of time together? Love. Christ. Resilience. Joy. Acquire. Gorge. Courage. Deception. Hold it. All of these words continue to manifest in the moments that we part from this and in each moment that we can find a way for ourselves and our own community of self and of location, geography, practice, ideology. Just keep, make we-ing us. Just keep we-ing us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You know, she's here, there, they're everywhere, but she really appreciates all of you being here and wanted me to let you all know that next year for her is more about self care. So that's what we'll be looking at for next gathering. And of course, other things that may come up during the year. Of course you have a full year until the next gathering happens. Just a few legal things. So you'll get this when you reconsider it. And it should be a form of re-energizing all the things that you want for 2006. There is a vision board outside. If you have not contributed to it, there's some cut-out pieces already on the table. We'd love for everyone's voice to be on that board. So if you haven't had an opportunity, please look at that. If something's jumping out at you, let us know. The volunteers can post it up for you. But we just definitely want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to contribute back. And we'll pay you because it's in their phone around social media, of course. Oh, afterwards you will receive a post-it survey. Let us know how we're doing. Things you like, things you will encourage us to do. We appreciate all the feedback as it's getting bigger and it's growing. And we definitely want to acknowledge that it's about you. Camille started this. It wasn't just for her. It was for about the community that she's in. And so we want to make sure that we're always addressing the community need and servicing the community. So please be sure to fill that out. It is anonymous. And you'll get that. Other than that, feel free. One more thing? I saw two hands over here. So maybe y'all want to go in the audience. I was just going to say thank you. I'm glad you took it. I will go my way. We've been together. I'm with you. I'm in the week. Yeah, exactly. We did. There was somebody else. Did we already do our group picture? We did. See, y'all did everybody's group picture. No, but people are head in this group. I know, but I'm not. I appreciate that. When I reach out to you. And Jacoby is here with the ladder somewhere. She's going to hop up on it. Oh, you're here? I don't know about the ladder. The ladder's over there. She can get us like this? No way. She's going to be there. I feel like we're facing her this way. Jacoby, is that right? I think I'm facing you. Okay, wonderful. I'm actually going to play strategically in front of you. Perfect for this picture. So, you're going to gather. Looks like a serious pageant. A serious pageant. Happy. Of course, we always like to show our creative side. And these images as well. So, I'm going to add you to take a picture. Do we need to be earlier? Yeah. Can we possibly just use the raked already tiers? No. We were definitely going to use that as an option as well. But we knew that probably moving would take a little bit. So, we can do both options. I'm open as long as people are okay with that. The more the merrier. The more the merrier. We just wanted to try to do it quickly. So, if you're able to stay for us to maneuver those tiers, then I'd love for that as well. So, you know. This is a setup over here. So, this is a really great beginning. I need to push together. I feel like over here there's some opportunity. There's some space down there. I'm going to try to say, I'm not going to be there. I'm going to try to say, I'm not going to be there. I don't know who I'll be there. I'm going to take a picture. There's a tweet on there. There's a thing, there's actually a tweet about it. Just go over here. No, don't get the tweet. I did have four for one. And you can take it out after if you're not. No. No, no, no. I'm laughing. I'm laughing because I'm happy at it. Okay. I'm going to take a picture over there. Okay. I'm not going to be there. I'm going to be there. Hold on. I'll take a few shots, but don't run away after the first. You're like a little kid. See? Not going to be there. Okay, I'm going to count to three, and then he gives me the most amazing smile. One, two, three. Perfect. I love that. Everyone's feet in here. Perfect.