Cracks of Light

Co-presented by Gibney Community Action’s first partner, Sanctuary for Families, Cracks of Light is part of Gibney’s annual observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. In this performance series, Gibney bears witness to stories of gender-based violence and invites audiences to expand the boundaries of gender and explore the concept of transformation.

Presenting performances by Nana Chinara, Gender/Power, Arielle Rosales, and Sanctuary for Families’ Survivor Leaders.

We invite you to join us to kick off the Cracks of Light series on Thursday, October 24 at the Celebrate Hope Benefit. 

NANA CHINARA
CONFESSIONAL

Confessional is a performance ritual undergoing the research of self intimacy, self-healing, and self-liberation. Confessional researches the homes held and built within Black bodies, particularly how my body has built a home of numbness, immobility, and pain. Confessional moves beyond that pain and sanctifies a new home within myself, within the places that hold me, and within the witnesses – a home of self intimacy, self-liberation, and self-surrender. The Theater itself becomes a witness to this sacrament, an installation site of an altar, and a space to hold and engage with affirming witnesses on this self-grounding journey.

GENDER/POWER
COMPOSITION II

Gender/Power Composition II is a video installation comprised of durational portraits of performers/participants Becca Blackwell, James Tigger! Ferguson and Kris Grey. The voiceover text which accompanies the portraits was scripted from conversations about how the performers experience power based on the perceptions of their bodies. The text has been braided together thus creating a collective voice removed from authorship. Camera and Editing Maya Ciarrocchi. Created in collaboration with the performers Becca Blackwell, James Tigger! Ferguson and Kris Grey.

Arielle Rosales ft. Myriam Gadri & Batalá New York
Becoming Mother Duende: #PermissionToBe

Becoming Mother Duende: #PermissionToBe is a performative exploration of duende through the lens of women, posing the question, “What could we create if we granted each other #permissiontobe our fullest most authentic selves right in this moment?” Dedicated to providing safe spaces for women to exist, create, & heal, Director/Facilitator Arielle Rosales honors the women in her life in celebration of the power of community and the feminine divine. This iteration being presented for Gibney’s Cracks of Light series is in collaboration with Myriam Gadri (Artistic Director of Jarem-Roots) and Batalá New York (Directed by Dr. Deinya Phenix).

SANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES SURVIVOR LEADERS
REFLECTIONS

Sanctuary for Families clients who have been out of an abusive relationship for at least one year and are interested in serving as peer educators and advocates can apply to join the Survivor Leadership Institute. They then participate in an intensive certification course preparing to do direct service work with clients, professional trainings in the community, media interviews, program consultation, and advocacy work. Upon graduation the certification course, Survivor Leaders make system-wide change in the movement to end gender violence. With Gibney, the Survivor Leaders create original dance works, which honor aspects of their individual journeys as a reminder that we all possess the capacity for change. They reclaim power and control over their own bodies, utilizing the arts for social change.

Directed by Gina Gibney. Rehearsal Director: Amy Miller. Performed and Created by Sanctuary for Families Survivor Leaders including Denise Crews, Dorota Dzewcykz, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ava Mahabir-Wilson, Sandra Manick, and Maria Meneses.

Gibney’s observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month is made possible by lead sponsor New York Health & Racquet Club.

Photos: Main image of Amanda Castro, photo by Corey Rives. Photo collage, clockwise from top left: Amanda Castro, photo by Corey Rives; Nana Chinara, photo by Kalyn Jacobs; Gender/Power, photo by Maya Ciarrocchi; Sanctuary for Families Survivor Leader, Sandra Manick, photo by Scott Shaw.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call the NYC Safe Horizon hotline at 1-800-621-HOPE (4673) or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Both hotlines are free, confidential and operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ACCESSIBILITY

Gibney 280 Broadway is accessible via elevator from the main entrance at 53A Chambers Street.

We welcome the opportunity to make this event more accessible. Please refrain from wearing scented products, so that people with chemical sensitivities can join us. Please request ASL interpreting, audio description, or open captioning 30 days before the event or submit other requests by completing our Access Requests and Inquiries Form or calling 646.837.6809 (Voice only).