Violence exacts a steep and painful toll. Multiplied a billion times, the damage can devastate.
A yearly gathering in downtown Naperville Thursday spotlighted estimates that one in three women worldwide will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. That adds up to one billion women and girls; hence the naming of the global movement: One Billion Rising.
Advocates illustrate their support for the initiative through dance. Citing correlations linking violence against women to economic, environmental, racial and gender injustice, they gather to express their support for victims and women at risk by learning dance steps available via online videos, and perform them together on or around Valentine’s Day every year.
This year’s dancers, numbering in the thousands internationally, are breaking into dance “outside of court houses, police stations, government offices, school administration buildings, work places, sites of environmental injustice, military courts, embassies, places of worship, homes, or simply public gathering places where women deserve to feel safe but too often do not,” the website onebillionrising.org relates.
The nonprofit WAR (Women At Risk) Chest Boutique in downtown Naperville has hosted the dance annually since 2013. This year, it was scheduled at mid-day and again Thursday evening.
“We are all affected by violence in our society – in the workplace, physical, verbal,” said Missy Hoekstra-Hecht, manager of the fundraising gift shop, who joined a group of dancers at the noon dance.
Hoekstra-Hecht said she has taken the store’s cause into the community, giving a presentation this week to members of the Exchange Club, which works to reduce child abuse and other forms of domestic violence, with help from its massive Ribfest fundraiser every Fourth of July.
Leading Thursday’s earlier cause-driven dance class were dance directors from the School of Performing Arts, headquartered in Naperville’s Fifth Avenue Station. Katy Wegner walked the participants through several practice runs, talking them through the one-two steps, the overhead “party” arm move, the right-left.
“Now we break our chains,” she called out at the portion of the dance where the movement symbolizes snapping the irons of oppression over one knee.”Again! Now we cha-cha.”
The catchy tune had Barbara Yokom’s toes tapping. Yokom is one of the founders of Artful Impact, which collaborates with the School of Performing Arts. She lamented, only half in jest, that the invigorating and empowering dance isn’t offered more often, noting its heart rate-elevating benefits.
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“We’re here to bring art to the community,” Yokom said of Artful Impact. “This is about healing and hope and strength, and we’re happy to support it.”
Ashley Pitariu, formerly the store’s manager, took part in the dance as well. She sees hope, and the potential for bringing relief, in expanding the realization that so many women find themselves in harm’s way.
“This is an awesome thing to collaborate on, and now that we all know it, we can teach it to other people,” Pitariu said. “It’s a great way to raise awareness of violence against women.”
Twitter @scarlman