The Department of Women’s Studies hosted “Bindis and Bruises” Tuesday evening, the first presentation in the newly-created yearlong Gender and the Arts Program, which will include workshops, art exhibits, and film screenings aimed at educating the community about today’s women’s issues.
“Bindis and Bruises,” a production by the Chicago Danztheatre group, featured acting, traditional music, dance and Hindu storytelling as a way to spread awareness about domestic violence.
The group of four performers also presented skits and videos on how women, especially Indian women, are victims of domestic violence in today’s society. The show focused heavily on giving voices to women who have none.
“When I started doing performance work … when I started creating art on my own, I started thinking about what it is that I’m drawn to as an artist,” Chicago Danztheatre director Ellyzabeth Adler said. “I started having people coming up to me and talking, like, ‘I relate to this.’”
Adler said she believes this work can help people find their voices.
“There’s a layer of vulnerability that happens,” Adler said. “When we think about art, we sometimes think it always has to be on a big stage, or it always has to reach hundreds of people. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sometimes audiences like tonight and everybody talking afterward is how we create change.”
Amy Scott, associate professor and director of the Women’s Studies Department, said a big motivation for inviting Chicago Danztheatre to Bradley was to raise awareness during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“We wanted students to know that there are people on campus that work on these problems,” Scott said. “There’s a community of people here to help.”
After the performance, students were invited to provide feedback for the performers and ask questions of a panel of university resources, which included members of Help, Empower, and Teach (HEAT) and community counselors.
“I felt like we could all connect to it,” Anayeli Rodea, sophomore English and Spanish double major, said. “I really liked the presentation.”
Scott said the Women’s Studies Department wanted to focus on art and activism for their Gender and the Arts series.
“We’re really interested in thinking about art and activism, and how art can basically explode contemporary ideas about what gender means,” Scott said.
Adler connected activism to the act of speaking up.
“I have a voice, and you have a voice,” Adler said. “Sometimes people just need to see other people dancing or hear them say the words to know.”
