Letter
Letter
The Cost of Silence
tags:
April 28, 2008 (from the April 2008 Online)
I am writing this letter as an apology to people who have migrated here
from Mexico, Central America, and South America. I am Anishinabe, indigenous to what is now called Minnesota. I am also a playwright.
Within the last year I was approached by a production company, OffLeash
Area, to write a play with them called Border Crossing. It was my
understanding this play would address the inhumane issues people
confront when entering the United States.
As a Native American, I am interested in the stories of the indigenous people of this continent we call Turtle Island and the peoples of what is now known as South America. I am interested in the impact the building of the wall between Mexico and the United States has on Native Nations whose reservations created by the United States straddle this man-made border, also made by the United States. That is part of the story I had hoped to tell. In November '07, I did research for a week in the Sonora desert southwest of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. I had hoped to include a very strong voice for Indigenous people in this piece. I had hoped to include a very strong voice for Migrant people in this piece.
In my interviews with people I heard stories of inhumane treatment. I heard stories of a sea of sorrow — a desert littered with the bones of people trying to get here for a better future for themselves and for their future generations. I heard stories of joy, hope, survival, and celebration.
I am writing this apology because this is not the story that is being told in Border Crossing. It is not your story, and your voice has been removed from the piece. I wrote dialogue for native peoples. That dialogue was cut. I wrote dialogue for the characters crossing the desert. That dialogue was cut. I argued to give voice to the oppressed. My voice was silenced. I am sorry. I understand any anger on your part where you would question why I, as a Native American, would have thought that I could tell your story.
If you have questions or comments to me, I am open to dialogue.
Miigwitch
As a Native American, I am interested in the stories of the indigenous people of this continent we call Turtle Island and the peoples of what is now known as South America. I am interested in the impact the building of the wall between Mexico and the United States has on Native Nations whose reservations created by the United States straddle this man-made border, also made by the United States. That is part of the story I had hoped to tell. In November '07, I did research for a week in the Sonora desert southwest of Tucson on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. I had hoped to include a very strong voice for Indigenous people in this piece. I had hoped to include a very strong voice for Migrant people in this piece.
In my interviews with people I heard stories of inhumane treatment. I heard stories of a sea of sorrow — a desert littered with the bones of people trying to get here for a better future for themselves and for their future generations. I heard stories of joy, hope, survival, and celebration.
I am writing this apology because this is not the story that is being told in Border Crossing. It is not your story, and your voice has been removed from the piece. I wrote dialogue for native peoples. That dialogue was cut. I wrote dialogue for the characters crossing the desert. That dialogue was cut. I argued to give voice to the oppressed. My voice was silenced. I am sorry. I understand any anger on your part where you would question why I, as a Native American, would have thought that I could tell your story.
If you have questions or comments to me, I am open to dialogue.
Miigwitch
I didn't think it was that bad really. It's not like it blew me away with its realism and strong voice for the oppressed, but at least it begins to tell the story.
What is the real story of those of us who are exploited and used for the benefit of the greater society and then criminalized, marginalized and silenced?
A couple of years ago artists of color were brought together to dream of the future of art funding in Minnesota. Cultural Carpet Bagging was a topic on the lips of many. But the gathering was folded and redirected to the trite and insignificant drone of the grant processes of giving out money. This is where Marcie seems to have gotten trapped by a "tar baby".
The stark reality in this shameful exploitation of a whole people is painful. Here is a "dance play" dominated by a white woman to advance her career( she made that quite clear) through exploitation/appropriation ( current new idea in the arts) of a new non-white people. White characters in the production had voices; brown voices were trapped in the bodies of white directed dancers (check out the costume choices). That is real realism; it is what is happening to the people who cross the borders at the risk of their lives. Everyone has something to say about them, but none are listening directly to their voices.( which is what Marcie is apologizing for, and we have accepted her offering)
They, the mostly indigenous people, cross those lines in the desert to come here and do the jobs that "artists" will not do. They risk life and limb to become a permanent servile class. They faithfully plant dreams in their children's hearts that this great land will be just and fair to them; and this is how a "dog theater" uses their story. All in the name of Art.
What story does it begin?
Coyote Negro
That's pretty intense. Thanks for sharing.
"LETTER
Dance Is a Visceral, Powerful Voice
by Paul Herwig, on behalf of the artistic directors of Off-Leash Area, Minneapolis
Off-Leash Area responds to accusations of racism from the author of their latest production, Border Crossing.
tags: Border Crossing latino marcie rendon migrants native native americans off leash area offleash area
May 18, 2008 (from the May 2008 Online)
We read with disappointment the open letter from Marcie Rendon — "The Cost of Silence" — and several other online posts she has written attacking our work with her on our recent production, Border Crossing. In some of these communications she has gone to the unfortunate, and offensive, extreme of describing our process as "racist." As the artistic directors of Off-Leash Area, we feel a responsibility to address some of the concerns Marcie has raised.
We are a dance and movement theater company, and we work in a very open, collaborative way with all of the artists who work with us — the performers, the composer, designers, rehearsal directors, and a writer if we engage one. Some of our shows have text, some have very little, some have none. Marcie has worked with us twice before; she knows how we work. As Artistic Directors, it is our job to bring all of these elements together in the way we believe has the highest artistic merit.
Evidently stung by some of the editorial and artistic decisions that are an unavoidable part of any creative process, and that are also well within our contractual agreement, Marcie has chosen a regrettably public venue in which to air her grievances, some of which we find untruthful. Rather than exhaustively catalog our collective grievances here, however, we would like to address a few of the charges we feel are unwarranted.
Continued
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1. Marcie commented that we removed the only Native American character in the show, and so removed a significant part of her voice as a Native American. What Marcie did not clarify is that the performer we hired for this part fell down his stairs and fractured his ribs four weeks before the show opened. Marcie helped us try to find a replacement, but we were unable to do so, and with just weeks left in rehearsals, we felt we had no choice but to remove this part.
2. Marcie stated that Off-Leash Area did not make any attempt to publicize this show to the Latino community. On the contrary: Rosita Balch, a Colombian human rights activist who worked with us in the development of the show, contacted many Latino and human rights organizations, personally emailing them, talking to them, and distributing postcards. One of the Latino cast members translated our press release into Spanish. Our marketing director sent press information to his entire list of press contacts, which included minority publications. A Latino cast member who works deeply in the Latino community as a performing artist contacted the Latino press and organizations he knows. We sent emails from the artistic directors to minority press contacts and Latino organizations. We made every effort we knew how to.
3. Marcie wrote that we took away the voice of the migrants by not having them speak. Since we first began creating this show a year ago, we decided to represent the migrants through the language of dance. This statement is included in grant narratives written last summer — of which Marcie was given copies. We are, after all, a dance and movement theater company; much of our most effective work is wordless. We believe the voice we gave to the migrants through dance is a visceral, powerful voice.
4. Marcie stated that we did not engage the community of color in the production. Our artistic and development team included a Colombian, a Mexican American, an Argentine, a Puerto Rican, an Algerian American, an African American, and two Jews. For our auditions we sent notices to Latino organizations and Latino performers to spread the word that we were especially looking for Latino performers. At the same time contradicting herself, Marcie has registered her disappointment that members of our multicultural cast were invited to comment upon all aspects of the work, including the script. Strangely, this amounts to claiming that the voices of minorities were suppressed by input from too many diverse voices, a charge we can't make enough sense of to address.
We are sorry that our creative process on Border Crossing did not satisfy Marcie's wishes, but it was nothing if not inclusive, and one would be hard pressed to read anything resembling racism into it. It may be that her dissatisfaction stems from a lack of clarity in our initial informal working agreement with her, and we resolve to better define the nature of our collaborations in the future. We ask only that our partners deal in truth, and not in allegation."
I find this even more intense, don't you?
Paul thinks it's ok to defend an organization when someone of another race complains that the "actions" of that organization are racist. And he who have us beleive that it is "offensive" to be cited as haveing acted in a "racist" manner?
Racism is not about black and white people only; anymore.
When the artistic directors make a defined choice to "devoice" the characters that are the story; and instead choose to "skin" them and embody their "emotions, spirit, political views" in the "dance art of thier own persona" it very much alike "Black Face, Amos and Andy, etc."
Paul in his rush to defend the right of the "ARTIST" to trample on other cultures does take note that we are people to.
Some of us are also "Performance Artists"
coyote in a tutu