“The moments between movement are luscious, lengthy, contemplative, baring. I am eavesdropping on the most intimate of recollections: “Little Animals” procured for a collection. Ballerina bowing in her music box. A dad voice resonates: “You may want to pass this on to your children so, take good care of it.” Figures? Figurative.
White privilege: a collection of empty eggshells corralled carefully under the pedestal. Ping-pong sounds makes sense now, hollow shells rolling against one another, cracking, smashing, dropping. With playful exactitude: scatter and retrieve. Repeat.
Allyson breaks my heart and pulls the pieces to her like lost bits of eggshell. ”
Eggshell Sternum/Pelvic Nerve is a solo performance-project investigating white womanhood through the themes of privilege, fragility, and power. The performance incorporates movement, eggshells, red crochet, performance art, and original sound. This project draws upon my lived experience of coming into knowledge of both my womanhood and my whiteness, as well as conversations with a community of womyn-identifying artists whose experiences, input, and wisdom have shaped the research questions and working process of this piece.
This research is informed by the work of Courtney Martin, Ryan Wong, Toni Morrison, Whiteness Project, Christiane Northrup, and Robin DiAngelo
Performance description Having white privilege is like standing on an invisible pedestal. Unless you learn to see the structure, you will spend your life believing you are two feet taller than the people standing on the ground. In eggshell sternum/pelvic nerve, a white woman navigates her destabilized inner landscape once the pedestal has been made visible. Through the lived experience of the performance, she wrestles with her own capacity for fragility, destruction, and guilt, seeking healing and the ability to stand in her power on the ground.
premiere
Eggshells and Honey: New works premiere by Julie Akerly & Allyson Yoder - Friday, December 22, 2017. 7 pm and 8:30 p.m., Mesa Arts Center Acting Studio