Page 24 - the NOISE February 2016

hungRY heaRtS & the lOVe line CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: the movements “Serendipity’s Kiss,” “Arco Wheel,” and “Arco Big Chair,” will be
storY BY ClaiR anna ROSe PHotos BY g’S phOtOS
Bodies in Motion PiQUe a valentine’s affair performed at the Green Room February 13 & 14.
This Valentine’s Day, Flagstaff Aerial Arts brings back their fun, flirty and sexy showcase, “Hungry Hearts Cabaret & Love Advice show” to the Green Room. At the time this article was being written, the final details of the line-up were still being decided — acts featuring duo
silks, acro-yoga, duo-pole, Latin dance and belly dance have been confirmed.
Flagstaff Aerial Arts founder Joan Garcia had the idea to do a Valentine’s Day show for many years. “I got the idea to do a love advice show because ever since I was a little girl, I loved listening to Dr. Drew on the radio,” Ms. Garcia reflects. she knew she was too young to listen to Love Line, and would turn the volume down to an inaudible level and listen with her ear against the speaker. “It was in my mid-20s I started listening to Dan savage’s podcast Savage Love. I was in a sh*tty relationship at the time and really needed Dan’s advice. It was like a golden ticket out
of that energy sucking relationship. Dan has a famous line, ‘Dump that motherf*cker already.’ Dan helped me through a difficult time in my life and helped me to form a philosophy about love and relationships that has served me very well since then. when I met my husband, and we were both Savage Love listeners, I knew I was on the right track!”
In regards to the Cabaret, for Ms. Garcia, Valentine’s Day is all about the many facets of love. “It is really a cruel holiday,” she says. “I used to hate V-day when I was single. That is why ‘Hungry Heart’ is so much fun as a title. The hungry heart encompasses the good, bad and ugly of this holiday. we express all of it in our Cabaret. Last year there were pieces that communicated heartbreak, sexy encounters, one-night stands, and of course there were some traditional elements of Cabaret, such as the cancan kick line. since we are an aerial company, of course there were lots of amazing aerial pieces too ... but my favorite part of the event was the advice show!”
The advice show hosts a panel of “sexperts,” who will answer the audience’s questions regarding sex, love and relationships. “we are thrilled to have some return panelists and a few new and very qualified panelists,” Ms. Garcia tells me. “some of our panelists back by popular demand include Myra Ferell-Womochil who is the executive director of Victim witness services of Coconino County, Tommy Elias of Tommy’s Costumes will be a voice from the local gay community, and sexologist and Flagstaff sex coach Dr. Janet Hastings Morrison is back by popular demand. new to the panel this year is co-moderator Dapper Dre who will help field questions to panelists, local psychotherapist Garrison Garcia (and in full disclosure he is also my husband), Coconino Community College teacher Natalie Nixon who is co-authoring a book on the sociology of sex with one of our other panelists Dr. Skeen, a sociology of sexuality professor at nAU. we will also have nAU guest lecturer Kathi McIlwaine do her Flagstaff- famous sex toy talk!”
Though last year’s audience was a little shy to ask questions at first, Ms. Garcia said they soon loosened up and the conversation became lively. “everybody loves to talk about sex,” she says. “Our show provides a safe and entertaining environment for people to open up conversations
they might not have had otherwise. This is one of the core principles of what we are trying to do at Flagstaff Aerial Arts. we want our performances to spark conversations, make social commentaries, and challenge beliefs in the hope we can inspire our audience members to live out their dreams, make changes in the world and create a better society and planet.”
Again this year FFA is participating in One Billion Rising, a campaign to end violence against women started by Eve Ensler, who created the Vagina Monologues. One Billion rising was launched on Valentine’s Day 2012 — sharing the statistic 1 in 3 women in the world will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. One Billion rising calls people across the world to protest around Valentine’s Day to raise awareness. “revolution,” the 2015 theme, is continued this year. I ask Ms. Garcia how One Billion rising relates to “Hungry Hearts.”
“Our cabaret and love advice show is all about empowerment,” she shares. “empowerment to make decisions about sexuality, empowerment to live to your highest potential, have potent and meaningful relationships with others, empowerment to make the choices that help you live your best life ever, and empowerment to end the oppression of women and girls. we have so much conditioning in our society that keeps women from rising up — unequal pay, and an eternity of oppression and subordination. sexuality should be on equal terms for all consenting human beings. Part of us owning this equality comes through speaking up about human sexuality. The love advice show is all about breaking away from historical
norms and recognizing sex should be talked about. People should feel empowered to have their questions about sex answered, their biases challenged, and know every person’s journey through sexual empowerment is part of the healing process of righting the wrongs of historical sexual oppression.”
Hilary Giovale is involved in every aspect of the “Hungry Hearts Cabaret” this year, as a performer, a panelist and in One Billion rising. she has lived in Flagstaff for 22 years and came here to study at northern Arizona University. she is a mother, dance teacher, workshop facilitator, embodiment teacher at Victim witness, and a filmmaker. “I am committed to several initiatives relating to global human rights,” she tells me.
she first heard from her mother about the movement and became involved in 2013. “I have been a community organizer for One Billion rising ever since,” she tells me. This movement speaks to me because of its vast global appeal and its basis in embodiment. For the last several years I have been teaching the ‘Break the Chain’ dance to various groups — indigenous people, youth and women survivors of sexual or domestic violence, college students and faculty, children ... I notice when we use movement and art as an integral part of our social movements, something unexpected happens — we begin to heal trauma. Living in a world in which gender-based violence is so prevalent creates a level of underlying trauma that affects all of us. One in three women (or one billion people) will be raped or beaten in their lifetime. If you really let that in, it is a staggering statistic.”
As a part of the panel, Ms. Giovale says she is honored to “facilitate an informative, fun and enlightening discussion with several local ‘sexperts’ who come from different backgrounds, disciplines and lifestyles. In the panel we’ll be able to hear a variety of opinions about the questions we all ponder but may be afraid to ask,” she says.
Ms. Giovale will be performing in the “Hungry Hearts Cabaret” with Marcy Roof, Heather Levin, and Ginger Van Diver in their tribal belly dance troupe Maeve Rising Dance Collective. with a background in improvisational style tribal belly dance, the troupe draws from a wide variety of influences to create their dances. “we work with strong feminine archetypes, ritual, ancient movements and new inspiration to tell stories that are entertaining and empowering,” Ms. Giovale describes.
Ms. Giovale says belly dance became “a life-altering path for me.” she first became interested in belly dance in 2003 when she began taking classes. “My first interest was in group-based improvisation, and I wrote a Master’s thesis on how tribal belly dance positively affects body image in young women. I started seeing that belly dance, embodiment, and women’s empowerment can cross-pollinate sustainability, social justice, and spirituality movements. Today, Maeve rising’s performance style has developed into storytelling around specific themes and issues. we love to play with earth-based movements, ritual, burlesque and feminine archetypes to add more layers and complexity to our dance.”
Maeve rising is planning an act for the cabaret Ms. Giovale describes as “something a little bit edgy. something to celebrate women’s diversity, beauty and the different sexual identities they can embrace.”
Heather Levin began dancing 15 years ago. At the time her goal was to improve her self- confidence. “It started as a deeply personal journey and then became a process of developing real and positive connections with other women,” she shares. “Over the last two years of performing with Maeve rising, I have come to the realization I now dance with the intention to inspire other women to take a look into themselves and discover they too can be confident, creative and sexy regardless of size, age or ability.”
A One Billion rising flash mob will be taking place in Heritage square on saturday, February 13 at 1PM. Later that evening the first of two performances of the “Hungry Hearts Love Advice show and Cabaret” will take place at the Green Room at 8PM. A second Valentine’s Day
performance will be held on sunday, February 14 at 5PM. FlagstaffAerial.org
| Clair anna rose has a checkmark on her application to the circus.
clair@thenoise.us
24 • february 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us