Review\u00a0 By: Janel Spiegel<\/p>\n
Event Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Dancing with Trauma and Recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n ArtsQuest SteelStacks Presents: <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score: Dancing with Trauma and Recovery\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Choreography by Sarah Carlson <\/strong><\/p>\n Original Music by Vernon Mobley<\/strong><\/p>\n Thursday, February 8, 2024 at 7:30PM<\/strong><\/p>\n What a day, and what a night. It was a beautiful night in Bethlehem, PA, despite the brisk weather. Mother Nature wants to keep everyone on their toes.<\/p>\n Choreographer Sarah Carlson led an amazingly talented group of dancers onstage at the Musikfest Caf\u00e9. I spend a lot of time at the Musikfest Caf\u00e9 for events, for shows, movies, and to go for walks. It\u2019s a safe space for a lot of people. The performance last night was intense. \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score\u201d is a book by Bessel van der Kolk. Sarah, and the composer of the show, Vernon J. Mobley created a beautiful performance. The dancers matching the sounds of heart beats, machine sounds, beautiful piano, and drumming.<\/p>\n The audience absorbed everything. We don\u2019t often thing about our lives, and our days. Our days can be easy and carefree or chaotic, busy, and stressful. Most of us deal with stress, we have found ways to simply ignore it or fill our time with events, things to keep us busy so, we don\u2019t have to deal with the everyday mundane tasks in life. We have families, friends, work, side jobs, the list goes on and on. This piece was part of all of our lives. The dancers emphasized panic attacks, running and running with rest, they emphasized trying to catch up, and keep up with everything you have going on, at least that was my take.<\/p>\n The sounds and music by Composer, Vernon J. Mobley made it completely effective. It\u2019s like a well scored film, it builds the intensity without overdoing a scene. The music added to the chaos, and the calm. We often go and go, and we don\u2019t rest in life. We don\u2019t think about what has happened to us. This performance beautifully displayed the monstrosity of emotions that human beings go through day in and day out. It\u2019s an accomplishment when you get out bed in the morning. You take those steps. That matters.<\/p>\n At the end of the performance, they had a panel, and answered questions and took comments from the audience. It was a bit of a group therapy, \u201chow did that make you feel\u201d moment without the tension of feeling\u2026 just say, \u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d It was overwhelming in the most gravitating sense to hear people actually talk about trauma and not in such a horrific harsh way. We do hold trauma in our bodies, the way some of us sit, we tense up, we react to certain movements. You notice it in people. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, stress, depression, anxiety. It comes in various forms. Stress takes a deep toll on the body, the spirit, and the soul.<\/p>\n Listening to Sarah and Vernon go over the experiences they had was positive. They had people there from Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley, United Way, and more. They spoke to the audience, and listened to the questions, and comments. There are people to talk with. There are ways to help. You don\u2019t just want to \u201cdeal with it,\u201d even though most of us have learned coping mechanisms. You should look for outlets. Go outside, take in the sunshine, go to therapy, talk to someone. Go dancing, listen to music, go to a concert, be with friends. There are outlets. They did an incredibly job with this performance. Take a deep breath in, and exhale. You are here, and you will be okay.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.artsquest.org\/steelstacks\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.scdancelink.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/cvclv.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.unitedwayglv.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/bcamentalhealth.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Review\u00a0 By: Janel Spiegel Event Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Dancing with Trauma and Recovery ArtsQuest SteelStacks Presents: \u201cThe Body Keeps the Score: Dancing with Trauma and Recovery\u201d Choreography … Continue reading THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE REVIEW | Review By: Janel Spiegel<\/span>