March 2010 Newsletter

In this Issue:

Anderson University, Indiana

Ohio University – performance and talk

Ohio Workshop with Burning Feather

Oberlin College, Ohio

Paths of Initiation

‘The Blessing Next to the Wound’- excerpt

‘Maybe a Poem’ – by Vivien Sansour

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Anderson University, Indiana – February 23rd – 25th

Hector recently performed NightWind at Anderson University, Indiana. The performance was followed by two workshops; ‘Awaken Your Imagination’, which was open to all, and ‘Transformational Teaching’ with the students and faculty of Anderson University.

Here is what Marian Osborne Berky had to say about Hector’s visit:

Dear Hector, students are still talking about your work with them last week.  One student in class this morning said, “I miss Hector.”  You did have a profound influence on a number of folks here.  You stretched some, you encouraged and invigorated others, and you challenged all of them to work out of their passions.  Thank you!

Marian Osborne Berky

Anderson University Peace and Conflict Transformation Program

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Ohio University – April 29th and 30th

Thursday April 29th: Lecture – The Popular Theater as a Tool for Social Change

In this interactive lecture Hector will explore with audience participation some of the main techniques he has been developing while traveling the world and working with communities at risk.

Time: Noon- 2:00 PM –- FREE Event

Venue: The Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center, MLK Jr. Lounge/Room #100-A

Address: 153 W. 12th Ave. Columbus OH 43210-1389. Phone: (614) 292-0074

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Friday April 30th: Nightwind – a solo play & workshop

Time: 6:30- 8:00 PM — FREE Event

Venue: TBA

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Ohio Workshop with Burning Feather – May 1st

Saturday, May 1st, 9am-noon and 1-6pm

Wild Goose Creative

2941 Summit Ave,

Columbus, Ohio

Admission: $35

For reservations and information, call: (614) 975-1085

and visit: http://burningfeather.org/

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Oberlin College, Ohio – Week of May 3rd – 8th

Hector will be returning to Oberlin, Ohio, during the week of May 3-8 to offer an intense ‘Awaken Your  Imagination’ workshop, along with street theater training. Details to follow! Check our website for updates.

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Paths of Initiation

A Mentoring Retreat for Younger and Older Men

Mendocino, California ~ August 17-22, 2010

Mendocino Woodlands Camp, Mendocino, CA

Proceeds support Voices of Youth and Intercultural Projects.

For more information and registration visit the Mosaic website at: www.mosaicvoices.org or contact the Mosaic office at: 206-935-3665.

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The Blessing Next to the Wound – excerpt

“Hernán Darío was a sissy. He was a Mama’s boy. When we played soccer in the street, he cried, afraid the ball might hit him. Was it my fault? my mother sometimes wondered. After three boys, I wanted a little girl so bad, is that why Hernán Darío came out like a girl?

I was also capable of crying like a girl. One night I heard terrible whimpers and found a kitten in the yard. It had been horribly injured, its body half-crushed, and I looked on its suffering and had no idea what to do. Then along came Hernán Darío, incapable of hitting a ball or hurting a fly. Do something. I was crying, Someone has to do something. My brother picked up a rock. Do you want me to put it out of its misery? All I could do was cry. Do you want me to kill it? he said. Hector, please stop crying, and he smashed the little creature’s head. I should have realized then that when it came to killing pain, Hernán Darío wouldn’t falter.”

—from The Blessing Next to the Wound: A Story of Art, Activism, and Transformation, now available for pre-order from Lantern Books. Available June 2010!

LINK

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Maybe a Poem

By: Vivien Sansour

I thought maybe a poem would save me

From wishful thinking

From escapism

From a bomb dropping on my life

Two stories told in two stories falling

We did not have to go to Jenin to see

Men rolled over by 80-ton tanks

Women forced to be naked and a young girl warrior

No we did not have to go to Jenin

But someone suggested that perhaps these people driving those tanks

Were clones

No way humans

A heart missing

An old man sobbing and I am packing

Going to Jenin and no poem will save me

From life stories that will force me to see the smallness of my scope

From loneliness self imposed

From cold days passing ever so slowly

No poem is going to save me from thoughts drilling my skull:

You belong here, you don’t belong here

You belong there and you don’t belong there

You are Palestinian

You are not Palestinian

You are woman

You are not woman

You are a diamond and you are a shit

No poem has come running through wheat fields to rescue me from my last collapse      and my next escape

I will fly away from here

Like I did ten years ago

I did it once I can do it again

And I pack my bags going to….

Leaving Jenin

Going to….

Yet another beginning

Until…..

We are now in the midst of the storm

Stories about myself don’t go away when I write

They don’t abandon me when I complain

Stories about who I am

You are lazy

You are good for nothing

You never finish

You never stick to it

You you you you quitter when the going gets tough

And that savior poem is still in the waiting

Like Godot she never comes

And like the things I end

She carries a beginning

And I understand

A poem is waiting for me to come,

Perhaps I can save her

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