This work amplifies a woman’s inability to assert her thoughts and emotions. The movement material developed out of personal stories lived by each dancer interspersed with recognizable gestures (a softball pitch, a stewardess signaling the exit signs, and a gorilla beating her chest). The text captures habits of untruthful exchange and pokes fun at numerous unsuccessful attempts to express anger. 

After the premiere in 1996, the work was commissioned by Moving in the spirit, a youth development program that uses dance to teach young people the social, emotional, and cognitive skills they need to thrive. It has been performed by multiple cast members over the past fifteen years resulting in transformative outcomes for the cast members themselves. They find their voice. They become more confident in sharing their thoughts. They learn to communicate what they need.   

In 2001, Moving in the Spirit’s Apprentice Corporation, an Atlanta-based youth development organization, commissioned the work. These young women (14–17-year-olds) discovered ways to release and articulate their voices. Over the past twenty-three years numerous casts of young women have performed Speak, physically committing to performing their fears and discovering a stronger, articulate voice that may have been hidden, ignored, or waiting to emerge.  

The work has been performed in Winston Salem, NC, Berea, KY, Aiken, SC, Highlands, NC, Columbia, SC, Philadelphia, PA, Portland, ME, Greensboro, NC, The Catskills Mountains, NY, San Diego, CA, Los Angeles, CA, Santa Cruz, CA, Monterey, CA, San Francisco, CA, Edinburgh, Scotland, Atlanta, GA, Pecs, Hungary, Budapest, Hungary 

In 2002, I re-created the work for a group of Emory international students from China who had all been my students. We explored the characteristics of living in an Eastern culture and adapting to a Western culture; being the only female child; and most importantly, what they needed to communicate non-verbally. 

SPEAK (quintet, commission), music by Zap Mama, Sally Potter and David Motion, performed by Moving in the Spirit Apprentice Corporation 

Ziplock, First Glance Festival, October 18-20, 24-26, 2002; Under the Sun, National Black Arts Festival, Atlanta, Georgia, July 13, 2002; Tour Explosion 2002, July 2-15, 2002: Lexington, Kentucky, Michiganville, Indiana, Chicago, Illinois, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, St. Louis, Missouri, Cleveland, Minnesota; Focus On Community Arts South, Alternate Roots 25th Anniversary, Lexington, Kentucky, April 18, 2002; Under the Sun, The Beam, Atlanta, Georgia, March 22-24, 2002; Finding Voice, Women’s History Month Performance Series, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, March 28, 2002