this is my body
This is my body is an experience designed for women of color to reclaim their narratives and take up space and own their truths. In the wake of #MeToo and other critical conversations on how women navigate this world, storytelling has been a powerful vessel for resistance, empowerment, and healing.
We are all writers and creatives with stories to tell. This is my body is about starting the conversation at the point at which we own and love our bodies and our stories.
OVERVIEW
This is my body is a one-of-a kind, cohort-based experience that weaves together live writing and performance workshops, mentorship, and retreats, all grounded in collective healing, resistance, and liberation. The experience culminates in a live performance showcase where cohort members perform their original pieces for a community audience. Past cohorts have also had the opportunity to be published in printed anthologies or digital zines.
This experience is designed for women who:
Identify as a woman of color living in the Bay Area
Want to write, perform, or tell a story (no previous experience required)
Desire to be in community with writers, artists, and storytellers
Seek to connect with more people and share their story
Want to do something that challenges them, scares them, and/or takes them out of their comfort zone in a nurturing, kind, and supportive space
Applications for our 2025 program will open on February 17, 2025. You can watch the 2024 performance showcase here.
ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
-
Our writing workshops teach the foundations of vulnerable storytelling as a tool for healing and empowerment. Each workshop supports you to identify, draft, and edit a personal narrative. We provide space for the cohort to build community and support one another through dialogue and feedback, as you move through the process of reflecting on and reclaiming your narrative.
-
Our performance workshops engage a wide range of methods, including embodied practice and vocal exercises, to help you understand how to use movement and motion to embody your piece. These workshops will prepare you to feel comfortable and confident as you convey your written piece through performance.
-
The culmination of this experience is the community performance where each cohort member will perform their 5-7 minutes original piece live. We ensure that the performance environment is safe and supportive, and provide guidance for the audience on how to engage with the pieces.
This is my body: a showcase of women storytellers. Video by Jesse Gurney.
We welcome financial support for the program to ensure removal of barriers to participation and expanding the impact of the experience. Supporting a scholarship is the perfect gift to celebrate or honor someone whose stories and presence have made a difference in your life or to support women of color whose stories need to be told.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This is my body is an anthology of written works by women of color exploring their relationship with their bodies in the world they exist in. Each piece is accompanied by a powerful stage performance bringing the words from the page to life.
ABOUT THE DIGITAL ANTHOLOGY
The this is my body digital anthology features writings from our 2023 and 2024 cohorts. The anthology brings the pieces to life through art and language to capture the beauty and power of each story.
ABOUT THE ZINE
Due to shelter-in-place policies, we took this is my body online and turned it into a three-week writing workshop. We have taken the works of these talented writers and captured them here in our first-ever this is my body zine.
To witness these stories in action, you can view the previous performances below:
this is my body 2024
this is my body 2023
this is my body 2021 (virtual)
this is my body 2020 (virtual)
this is my body 2019
this is my body 2018
