The Current Fall FINAL

ENTRÉE DES ARTISTES
At the end, during the lead’s solo at the end in the
nursing home, did you notice how the audience just
kept clapping? The storytelling was phenomenal,
and that proved to me that we are becoming a local
audience that appreciates space for great
storytelling. By listening to other peoples’ stories, it
enables us to tell our own and accept others more
readily. To see Columbus embracing a show like
Kinky Boots was powerful to me. It shows just how
far our city has come. There’s no way that fifteen
years ago, Columbus would have been ready to
accept the message in our audience. That was a huge
moment in Columbus. I mean, I would have cried
anyways (laughing) but I cried the way I did because
of how our community received that story.
Alee, you so clearly love our community and its
people. What’s your favorite thing about our
city?
My favorite thing about Columbus and the reason I
feel rooted here is the river. I don’t know that I
would’ve moved back for good had the river still
been dammed. When they blew that dam, the city
started to explode. There are so many metaphors
connected to the result of the rushing water.
What I love about the river and the reason I named
our studio River Flow, is the life-giving energy it
embodies. Growing up here, we were told to never
dip even a toenail in the Chattahoochee because it
was so filthy. And honestly, we never even ventured
to that part of town. But now that the river has
been released and the water is once again flowing,
she is reconnected to her truth- alive and pure. This
is exactly what happens within ourselves when we
remove the blockages that hold us back from our
whole being. It is easy due to societal conditioning
to put up walls or barriers to protect us from
expressing ourselves fully. But those barriers
eventually build up like energetic plaque in our
bodies, minds, and spirits. When we are living based
on what we think we “should” be doing, saying,
thinking, and wearing, we are damming up our
lights.
Image by Gina Spinelli Photography.
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