The Window Sex Project
PROGRAM ABOUT THE PROCESS THANK YOU RESOURCES VIDEOS
The Window Sex Project is a dance performance that tackles the everyday practice in which women are “window shopped,”—or forced to bear unsolicited harassment from men while walking on the street. An innovative performance grounded in personal experiences, feminist theory, and a collective need to take action, The Window Sex Project fosters conversation in the community about the need to eradicate unsolicited verbal harassment and restores agency to women by celebrating their bodies in a public artwork informed by members of the Harlem community, for the Harlem community. The work places women of varying races and body types on pedestals in an art gallery setting, forcing audiences to contend with the objectification of the female body in a contemporary society. The dance investigates how a woman’s sexuality is perceived based on these physical attributes. It aims to equally celebrate all the bodies which are unique, and do not fit into generic models of womanhood.
Produced by Sydnie L. Mosley ’07, BCRW’s first Alumna Fellow, the performance will be followed by a discussion with the dancers about their artistic process and about actions against street harassment that are taking place in New York City. The piece also includes a sound score orchestrated by Ebonie Smith ’07 and integrates excerpts of “Can I Get A Smile?,” a one-woman theater show written and performed by Leah King ’04.
Program
Click here (PDF) to download the program, including participant bios.
Choreography devised by
Sydnie L. Mosley
in collaboration with dancers
Sarah Chien, Denae Hannah, Shoccara Marcus, Carrie Plew, Allegra Romita, Tiffany Spearman, Candace Thompson, Alexandra Joye Warren, Tara Willis
with movement and inspiration from community participants
Kimberlynn Acevedo, Genesis Be, Nicola Briggs, Elizabeth Carmichael, Princess Dennis, Ferima Faye, Erica Frankel, Auzriel Hall, Alexis Harbour, Dash Harris, Monique Hazeur, Blair Hotchner, Leah King, Jamilah Lemeiux, Lucia Mattox, Monica Monfre, Maxine Montilus, Melissa Moschitto, Dawn Perry, Chloe Piazza, Meghan Sebold, Diondra Setorie, Kristin Simpson, Ebonie Smith, Ronethea Williams
Musical Direction
Ebonie Smith
with additional tracks
Auzriel Hall, Sam Cooke
Featuring excerpts from the one woman show “Can I Get A Smile?”
Leah King
Artwork
Princess Dennis
About the Process
During summer 2011, women came together in Harlem to participate in Community Workshops. The workshops provided a supportive space for women to voice their concerns about street harassment, learn to manage harassment on a day-to-day basis, and fellowship through shared experiences.
In conversation and in video recorded interviews, women shared their stories of harassment. Participants then completed task-based movement assignments to create their own dance phrases about their experiences, bodies and feelings.
Their stories and movement phrases provided the basis for this work.
Click here to learn more about The Window Sex Project: Lectures and Community Workshops, or for booking.
A Note from the Choreographer
Tonight’s performance represents the nexus of my layered and intersecting identities: artist and businesswoman, scholar and activist, working and broke, feminist and heterosexual, educated, black, woman, able-bodied and more. These identities inform the way that I observe and participate in the world. These identities both provide and deny me privilege, but nonetheless fuel my passion.
This project—this activism in the name of feminism—came about because of the way I interact with the world. It started out as a fierce frustration with the way I felt moving through my day-to-day life. It coincided with a strong desire to create something specific, dynamic… sexy. It resolves in the gathering of community, talks & workshops, ongoing research & writing, and a grass roots effort to stop street harassment and empower women in the meanwhile.
I am well aware that this issue is not new, nor is it cut and dry. It is complicated and messy, and each man or woman engages with it from his or her own perspective. But as bell hooks wisely tells us: “The significance of feminist movement,” that is, The Window Sex Project and this performance space, “is that it offers a new ideological meeting ground for the sexes, a space for criticism, struggle and transformation.” I welcome the struggle that will lead us to meaningful transformation over time.
I sincerely thank each and every one of you who have brought this vision to fruition. The dream is the truth. Onward.
So much love,
Sydnie
Thank You
Thank you to every one who contributed to this work with time, money, resources and expertise. We would not be here without you. Special thanks to Barnard College, my rock star family Stanley and Crystal Mosley, and Greer Dorsey, the coolest roommate on earth, Ebonie Smith, and my right hand & company manager extraordinaire, Blair Hotchner. We did it! ♥♥♥
Individual Donors
Vladimir Vukicevic, Sara Granstrom, Crystal Mosley, Jerome Colonna, Julie Joosten, Joi-‐Marie McKenzie, Clark Jackson, Sheila Odesey, Rachel Selekman, Alisa Davis, John Wheatland, Katherine Friis, Anthonia Akitunde, Katie Chipungu, Amanda Ortel, Greer Dorsey, Erica Frankel, Aliya Mosby, Sydnee Wilson, Amy Wilhelm, Ashlee Tuck, Elizabeth Bergman, Melissa Moschitto, Sara Zorzi, Nyasha George, Amy Jacobus, Emily May, A. Nia Austin-‐Edwards, Josephite Frs. & Bros. St. Peter Claver Church, Robert Flournoy, Nicola Briggs, Hugh & Robin Harvin, Nancy Romita, Daphne Larose, Jane Rosenthal
In Kind Support
Barnard College Dance Department: Rehearsal Space
Barnard College Africana Studies Program: Office Space
Barnard Center for Research on Women: Research & Overall Support RINY Media: Photography and Videography
Citizens Committee of NYC: Flip Camera
Hollaback!, INSPIRIT: Flip Cameras & Overall Support
Land Yoga: Performance Space
Grosvenor YMCA: Community Workshop Space
Groove With Me: Sound Equipment
Best Yet Market, Harlem: Community Workshop Food Donations Evelyn’s Kitchen: Premiere Food Donations
Resources
What do I do if I am harassed on the street or train?
IF you feel SAFE enough…
- RESPOND: Tell the harasser to stop, use self-‐defense, take a photo of harasser to report.
- INTERVENE: Help someone being attacked.
- REPORT: To the police, transit worker, online & with mobile reporting applications.
Other ways to respond…
- Share your story!
- Start conversations with peers and young people about respectful and appropriate communication.
- Lobby and campaign with activist organizations.
What’s your story?
Share your street harassment experience with us online at
www.windowsexproject.com
The more we speak out, the greater the awareness.
More from this event:
- VIDEO: The Window Sex Project: Post-Performance Discussion
- PROGRAM: The Window Sex Project Program (PDF)