Residency at York Correctional Institution for Women – Part I

Just a few weeks after our residency at the Jewish congregation in Westchester we were off to Niantic, Connecticut for our final residency in a women’s prison.  I was still wrestling with an uncertainty of my own beliefs as well as what I saw as the future direction of the dance company, when we arrived on Sunday evening and gathered at a local church to meet our host families for the five nights we would be in Niantic.

Monday morning, 8:30 a.m. the dancers, Newman and I gathered in the waiting room of the prison. I am pretty sure that Joe Lea, who was handling all the details of the residency and had invited us, met us and guided us through the process of entering the facility.  Following a brief orientation we were guided to the school which was in the maximum security side and entered the large classroom that had been cleared of most furniture except chairs  along one side.  While not an ideal space it was certainly large enough and even had its own private bathroom.  

Twenty-four women and one of the staff teachers soon joined us.  To be part of our program the women had to be enrolled in school, have permission from a teacher and have successfully taken two dance classes led by a teacher on staff who had a dance background.   Joyce, the teacher who had led the classes, explained that the criterion for the women’s participation in our residency was that they could follow directions and make it through an elementary jazz-like dance class.  Women of all sizes and ages, with or without any dance background, were welcomed.

Once everyone was in the room I asked them to make a large circle, and the four company members and I spread out joining the circle.  Newman was busy setting up his instruments at the far end of the room. Usually I begin with a warm up led by one of the company members and that was what I had planned to do… but looking around the room I turned to Joyce and asked her to start the class and we would follow along.  She did and we followed her warm up for about 10 minutes.  Then she said they had created a dance and asked if I wanted to see it.  Indeed I did. The company members joined me as we watched a short jazz-style dance of about a minute.  Then I asked Joyce and the women to teach it to the four Avodah company members.  They did and everyone was enjoying having the company members dancing with them.  I asked if I might coach it a bit and was greeted with enthusiasm.  They quickly responded to the few suggestions I gave.  

Then I asked the women to sit on one side of the room and said that I would share a little about the style of dance we did.  Accompanied by Newman we shared some of the elements of modern dance focusing on different qualities of movement, floor patterns, and changing dynamics.  I then asked the group to give us a theme to dance about.  One woman raised her hand and I called on her.  She said the feelings of a sad baby crying.  Kerri, Andrea, Jessica and Danielle responded beautifully, creating a heartfelt movement improvisation.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room and the women were so clearly with the dancers.  I knew we were off to a very good start and that the women in the room and the four Avodah dancers would have no problem working together.  They had become a company of 28 women who would work on The Forgiveness Piece together to perform for other women at the facility on Friday.  Joe was also inviting some outside guests to the join the audience and we had scheduled two performances, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon.

As the week continued each of the company dancers had a small group of women that they worked with developing dances on different stages of forgiveness.  We also taught them some ensemble sections and I remember coaching them on the ending movement of the piece where I suggested that as each person brought their arms down they lift their sternum at the same time thinking of their hearts opening.  When I asked them to do that section again I was stunned to see the change and that each person in the room had taken that instruction to heart. I remember looking over at Newman and we nodded at each other.  The women had gotten it and the result was very powerful. 

We did not know any of the reasons the women were incarcerated.  That is something one doesn’t ask.  We were taken by how attentive they were and incredibly responsive to suggestions.  It was a very diverse group of all ages and sizes.  There was even a mother and daughter who were working together and really expressing how much they were glad to have this time together. Sometimes we would watch teachers observing through a small glass window at the door, and occasionally they would have tears in their eyes.

It was a pretty exhausting week as in addition to the daily work for two-and-a-half hours in the morning we were doing other afternoon workshops and a regular Avodah Dance Ensemble concert one evening in the minimum security side for women who wouldn’t be able to attend the Friday performances.

I seem to remember meeting with the women who would be performing with the company on Thursday afternoon as well as the morning so they would have a chance to run through The Forgiveness Piece from beginning to end.  I also staged curtain calls at that time.  Very rarely do I do individual curtain calls but this time I did and the women had great fun figuring out their unique way to enter, take a bow, and exit.

In next week’s blog I’ll share some memories of the actual performance.  Before I close this blog, I want to mention that earlier that year York formed a Forgiveness Project Committee made up mainly of teachers in the school and put together a full program of guest speakers related to the week’s theme.  It included a child of a Holocaust Survivor, a discussion about the “plight of the Native Americans as it relates to trust and forgiveness” and meditation related to Tibetan nuns and how the Tibetan people pray for their captors and continue “good works” in the hope that life will get better.

The School Committee also offered afternoon workshops that women could sign up for.  On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we led workshops.  There were also other workshops with topics such as “Building Bridges,” “Is Forgiveness Possible?” and “Oral Storytelling.”

The Committee designed an excellent 8-sided brochure describing Avodah’s role and the goals for participants.  In addition, the brochure gave the 400 women who were enrolled in the school program a chance to sign up for the guest speakers and the workshops.  I am so glad that I saved the brochure, and below is the cover. 

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