by: Jamie Erin Murphy

Corey Bourbonniere - dancer in Me Vs...
I am someone that is passionate and a bit of a perfectionist. I am someone who tries to see the bright side of things, and who will listen without judging. I’m someone who cares deeply about humanity, and is saddened by the way people disregard or discount other inhabitants of this earth. I’m someone who remains hopeful that one day we will see God in our neighbors, coworkers, countrymen and immigrants, and that we will treat them all as such.

I’m excited to be a part of The Missing Peace, because I’ve met some truly incredible people in this short span of rehearsal time, and I’m excited to share a creative space with them. All of the choreographers have put so much time, thought, and care into these works, and I think the work that they’re doing is so important and relatable. They're giving life to concepts of identity, and the loss of identity, concepts that are not frequently seen in dance, or even talked about. By creating these works, they’ve opened a dialogue not just among the dancers, but among the people who have gotten to see pieces of these works. I’m excited to be a part of something that people will bring home with them, and think about, and talk about with their friends, because these topics are things that most if not all of us have dealt with.

#themissingpeace 
#bethepeace 
#beyourself
#shanasimmonsdance

by Shana Simmons

Let me tell you where we are currently at in the process coming from the overall Artistic Direction of Shana Simmons Dance. I feel like a tight wire has been pulled tighter within me and it (me) could snap at anytime. The stress level has increased in the past couple of weeks and we have a LOT to accomplish. I feel a certain obligation towards ensuring The Missing Peace is of a certain caliber of choreography and performance ability, the dancers are invested, the choreographers are inspired and proud, and the audience is moved beyond words. This is what I aim to provide through, not just The Missing Peace, but all SSD productions.

I want to be honest, this is no easy task. Bumps, and sometimes pot holes here in Pittsburgh, happen on our journey. Take for instance, our space got shifted this week and we currently have nowhere to rehearse. Scrounging for new rental spaces, emailing current contacts, asking those contacts if they have contacts that might be available...this is all part of our process. The difficulty of having space to practice your art, whatever it may be, but specifically dance, is always lurking in the corner. We stare at it head on, most times successfully, but what happens when your ability to practice is taken away?<--in dance, this is a CONSTANT question whether it be injury, rehearsal space, time, scheduling etc...

The Works In Progress showing was an incredible experience. Personally, the first rehearsal back was very difficult. How do you revisit something you just performed as a concrete idea? How do you take it further? This process is new to me and a privilege to be able to address it. I started with a section I knew was going to stay the same to help develop it further. We have yet to address the other sections since that rehearsal due to other unforeseen circumstances, but I have had time to think about the creation. I have a game plan walking into the last few rehearsals (pending a space to rehearse in). It is down to the time wire and we need to make these concrete ideas a living reality.

By Brady Sanders
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This week we began incorporating four dynamic sculptures into What Remains.  These unique aluminum structures represent a variety of concepts, changing and devolving throughout the piece.  They start as frames that house larger than life images of individuals impacted by Alzheimer's disease whose experiences are shared during What Remains via interviews and sound bites woven into the sound composition.  As the piece continues the images become distorted and finally disappear all together.  The sculptures are still in the process of being detailed and produced.  While there are a few quirks to figure out incorporating them into the piece has been very organic.  I think they add a valuable layer of identity, accessibility and story telling to What Remains. 

By Jamie Erin Murphy 

In this process I have begun thinking a lot about the layers of our identity that make us who we are. There are the typical ideas we think about like gender, sexuality and race for example. However, it feels much more complex than that. We are so much more than the boxes we check on a form.

In our rehearsal last week we played with the idea of putting on and taking off layers. I used a pile of clothing that belonged to everyone in the cast and gave different directives on how we put on and took off layers. This stemmed a lot of questions and ideas became a part of our improv exercise...

We searched out items that seemed to "fit"us

We never fully put on items that weren't ours because we new they weren't right. 

We weren't ever sure how to put something on to make it fit right.

Sometimes we struggled to keep the items that made us comfortable. 

We had to make a mental choice to let "a part of us" go.

Sometimes we saw discomfort in changing layers but we still allowed it to happen for our own comfort.

We allowed ourselves discomfort to keep what was important to us.

Is it ok to give up a layer to see if something else fits?

These ideas and so much more are inspiring a new section of Me Vs ... that I'm so excited to explore. Much more to come....

by Shana Simmons

As part of The Missing Peace process, dancers and choreographers have donated their time towards outside organization’s fundraising walks to help spread awareness and raise funds for the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. This show isn’t just about the choreography.... it’s about making an impact in our communities.

"As I stood at the start line for the Alzheimer's Association walk, I couldn't help but reflect how many people have been affected by both Alzheimer's disease and suicide. It was overwhelming to see the masses that were passing me and remember how many people walked alongside me during the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention walk. This was THOUSANDS of people and in Pittsburgh alone. It isn't often that we are united on such a large scale and the feeling is overwhelming. To try to put into words how these mental health conditions impact so many people and break down lives is difficult. This is why we dance. It's why dancers are compelled to move and we, as choreographers, are compelled to create. I believe The Missing Peace can help bridge the gap between these challenging feelings and what to say about them. I believe The Missing Peace will bring hope to those struggling through these difficult situations. I am excited to share and unite people through The Missing Peace." --Shana Simmons

"Taking our commitment to these causes from the studios to the streets of Pittsburgh has been a deeply moving experience.  I am incredibly grateful that the dancers have taken the passion we have for these issues to heart and that they have been so willing to get involved."  --Brady Sanders

by Sara Spizzichini, dancer in both What Remains? and Me vs. ...

One of the most interesting aspects of being a part of The Missing Peace, in my opinion, has been comparing how each choreographer goes about constructing their own work and story. For instance, having been involved in both Brady’s as well as Jamie’s choreographic process, I have noticed that Brady is more apt to come into the studio with a clear and personal idea whereas Jamie prefers to create more spontaneously surrounding a loose theme.

---What Remains?---

Brady has gone about constructing his piece through structured layering: he has manufactured a main phrase (all with gestures pertaining to elements and effects of Alzheimer’s) and has continually built upon this phrase-work in order to produce additional movement. Brady has explained that the movement (the gesticulations, the repetition, how and where we travel through space) is what relays the chaos, confusion, frustration, and hardship that is experienced by both a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease as well as his or her caretaker (in other words, we are acting as their voice).

Each phrase is, more or less, tagged on as a new section to the piece as it is created, providing for a very systematic choreographic approach. Moving forward, I wonder how each section is meant to flow together and in what particular order? Where does the climax of the piece lie and how exactly will he tie in the desired use of photographs within the work?

By Jamie Erin Murphy
What is identity? What makes us what we are? What parts of our identity given or created? Why does discussing our identity make ourselves and others uncomfortable?

These are a few questions I have been asking myself while I begin down the path that is leading my creation of Me vs... I began this journey a few years ago when my artistic partnership with a good friend and collaborator ended. I felt lost as an artist, choreographer and person. Why did this relationship define my artistic voice and why could I no longer find a way to create. I didn't know who I was anymore. This lead to the works-in-progress piece Words on Lost that would be my initial step into the large world of exploring identity and my section of The Missing Peace.

Last week I hosted a creative day/open rehearsal for the dancers involved in my work, as well as, dancers from the community. We started the day with the question "What do you see about this person?". We judged each book by their cover and discussed how that made us feel as both the person being looked at and the people that had to do the judging. We started to notice that we avoided things such as race and gender or things that could "offend" anyone and talked more about each persons clothes, eye color and nervous tendencies. 

We moved on to a Post-It exercise where I gave a list of categories we get put into when discussing identity [Race, Gender, Sexual Orientation, Religion, Socioeconomic Status, Age, Physical Ability, Mental Ability, Profession] and anonymously wrote a word, short phrase or drew a picture for each one. We covered the mirror in these post-its and then walked around and looked at what everyone wrote. We started to find similarities between us that we didn't know that we shared. I found the post-it's to be moving, inspiring and eye opening in this process.

The next two exercises were movement based. We first lined up by the mirror of post-its as I read allowed prompts that would allow the dancer to improv across the room if it applied to them. If the dancers moved across the room they would then have to look at the dancers opposing them then walk back as a group to join the others. These 25 prompts spanned from "if you like the color red" to "if you have ever been judged by the color of your skin" to "if you find joy in who you are". Some of the more emotional questions made it harder for the dancers to move. They found connections with the other dancers moving with them and started to feel empathy for the dancers who moved as they looked at them from the opposite side.

Our second movement exercise was to build a phrase based off 10 statements that would lead the dancers to a sign with an identity category on it that were hung across the room. These statements ranged from "The part of your identity that is most difficult to talk about with people who identify differently than yourself is ______?" to " The part of your identity that garners you the most privilege is ______?". Some of the dancers said they had not thought about their identity in these way before. This exercise stemmed a lot of conversation of different ways we haven't viewed or categorized ourselves before.

We finished the day with our first exercise but changed the question from "What do you see about this person?" to "What do you know about this person?". It was a nice way to wrap up what became a very therapeutic creative day for myself and the dancers. We started to see that while we are all unique beings we can find common threads that sew us together. Finding someone to relate to helps us build community and support us through the difficult times. I'm excited to continue on this exploration with these wonderful, open artists!

​Check out the dancers wrap up thoughts below!!!!

By Shana Simmons

When I first created STOP as a solo, I wanted to challenge myself physically as a performer. As I delve deeper into the nature of depression and what manifests as thoughts, there is a natural expression of movement that continues to be abusive to the body. Though beautiful to watch (in my opinion), after this rehearsal my back was tight, I had bruises in odd places, and it seemed my left shoulder was inwardly rotated days later. As a choreographer, I have to assess what reads to an audience constantly and what sections I'm developing as we go. These first phrases are simply thoughts in my head right now that will start to become more concrete with what I'm trying to say through movement.

I've heard it described as a "spiral downward" when you're caught in your own thoughts about depression that can lead to suicidal thoughts. I tried to develop a phrase that captured this idea. We will play with timing and emotion to fine tune what I want it to express for the performance. It feels good to express and create through the body. There is nothing like it.

If you are struggling with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.