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I hunger for this world to stop folding into sporadic creases of chaos. From my brother’s friend all of a sudden having potential brain damage, to the gruesome Israel-Lebanon war, I feel as though we’re all falling apart. Sometimes, if I think about the state of mind we’re in long enough I start to cringe and wince and I want to shout “Take me the hell away from his all!’ but I don’t want to leave it at all. I want to stay, see if I can’t change anything. Not that I’m a goddamn martyr or anything, but I just want all of the ones we love to sleep peacefully in rooftop canopies, with nothing but breezy ribbons gliding through the air. And over their foreheads.
- Lily


I hunger for time
    to laugh, to cry, to make mistakes, to be
I hunger for acceptance
    of others, of myself, of my stubborn hair
I hunger for opportunities
    to develop, to love, to be loved
I hunger for a niche
    a place of my own, a role to play
Tell me what to be and I’m confident I can be it. I hunger to know.
    Why do I hunger what I hunger for?
- Marilyn


A bad girl is tight black leather pants and piercings. She is drugs tattoos, motorcycles and long hair. A bad girl is rebellious and loud. A bad girl is promiscuous and mysterious. With so many things to hide, it’s no wonder she says in dark places. – Marilyn


A bad girl is trouble. She sneaks around creeping in the shadows. She cries for attention. In many ways. Ways like smoking and drinking to much. Or giving herself away. A bad girl is sad. She doesn’t have true friends. She has a hole in her chest. Where she once had been hurt. And now the pain is part of her norm. A bad girl needs protection from her tormented self. She needs a hand to hold. A hand to help her out of her hole. - Kelcie

TRUE BODY PROJECT AND THE FRINGE FESTIVAL

THE PROCESS 

The True Body Project presented two performances of BODY LANGUAGE: A RADICAL TRUTH in the spring of 2008. It was a work being created by Cincinnati teens in collaboration with area directors, actresses, dancers and choreographers. The process included sending a team of girls and women into the community. They conducted workshops and to gather stories and surveys about our relationship with our bodies and the secrets we may be keeping. This creative research was the foundation for a short performance for the Living Dance Project at the Aronoff Center on April 18th and at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival in early June. Visit www.thelivingdanceproject.org and www.cincyfringe.com .

PERFORMANCES 

The 55-minute Cincy Fringe piece was performed four times at the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). It featured Cincinnati-Area girls and women, ages 9-70, in their journey to discover the truth about our complex relationship to our bodies. This collaborative, community based work was created in response to the writings and surveys of more than 200 girls and women.

PHOTOS 

For performance photos, go here. To see photos of the women and girls who engaged in the workshop process, see below.

REVIEWS 

BODY LANGUAGE WINS AUDIENCE PICK OF THE FRINGE!
Body Language is one that we can all understand.
City Beat critics pick!
Cincinnati Enquirer

PLAYERS

This was a collective work of too many girls and women to list here. Some of them are pictured below and at our Performance Photo Page. Our Fringe Festival piece features the following members of the ensemble, chorus and production crew.

Julianna Bloodgood
Kristin Henderson
Lily Raphael
Adrienne Clark
Shannon Faith
Sarah Stephens
Kendall Karg
Dione Hardin
Olive Frank
Emily Frank
Audrey Albin
Claire Autrans
Susan Autrans
Jodi Stull
Julie Sunderland
Barbara Sferra
Kay Kaple
Stacy Sims
Clare Strasser
LoraBeth Barr

PARTICIPATE

Help us find out the truth about what it is like to be female in the year 2008. You can participate by filling out our “The Truth of My Body” SURVEY. You can also help us out by going to the Raise Your Voice section of our website and sending us your written response to one or more of our 6 writing prompts.

Or let us know if you would like us to visit your high school, college, book club, yoga studio, treatment facility or other places where girls and women gather. Schedule permitting, we will come to you and conduct an hour and a half workshop. Please send us a request to info@truebodyproject.org.

CREATE

Does this process intrigue you? Would you like to consider replicating our True Body community research process and creating your own work (theatrical, literary or film) in another city? Please contact stacy@truebodyproject.org for more information.

COMING SOON

Coming soon. More info about BODY LANGUAGE New York and Los Angeles!

nky ladies

Our friends from the Housing Authority of Covington Get Learning and Start Succeeding (GLASS) Ready to Work program.

First Step Women

The fantastic, inspiring women (and children) plus TBP collaborators at First Step Home.

Women from Rhythm and Motion

Women from Rhythm and Motion, an adult dance offering from Heather Britt and the Cincinnati Ballet.

SCPA Students

The wildly talented students of Joy Fowler's creative writing class at the SCPA.

Cast of our Living Dance Project

At the Aronoff, the cast of our Living Dance Project preview of Body Language: A Radical Truth:Seated left to right: LoraBeth Barr, Julianna Bloodgood, Audrey Albin, Adrienne Clark, Lily Raphael and Shannon Faith. Standing: Emily Frank.