(THE BERKSHIRES, Mass.) – On Thursday, February 14, 2013, Berkshire activists will join with those around the world for One Billion Rising, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. Organizers all across the Berkshires are planning events to demand an end to violence against women, including dances, flash mobs, and parties.
At Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, the students are learning the One Billion Rising Break the Chain dance and will perform it at 1:30pm. At 4pm, Sisters for Peace, Sruti Yoga Center and Walking Our Talk will be leading a flash mob in front of Sruti on Railroad Street in Great Barrington. Plans are for the flash mob to work its way to Stockbridge and further north, ending up at the One Billion Rising 10×10 Upstreet Dance Party Upstairs at Spice Dragon in Pittsfield 6pm. The dance party is organized by Elizabeth Freeman Center, HAVEN:Human/Animal Violence Education Network and WAM Theatre.
“When you watch the One Billion Rising video, in three short minutes you see the painful, common acts of violence women experience all over the world, and then you are swept with the passion and determination of women rising to act against it, even within the face of it. Think about it, one in three women in this world are beaten and raped, and our community is not immune”, says dance party organizer Nina Molin, MD. “It has to stop and we all must participate.”
One Billion Rising began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls. One billion women violated is an atrocity. One billion women dancing is a revolution.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR GREAT BARRINGTON FLASH MOB:
At 4pm people will meet at Sruti on Railroad Street to make signs and rally. At 5pm they will Flash Mob Dance out onto Railroad Street. The Mob will cross Main Street, split into two groups down main street and circle back to Sruti. Organizers request that participants please wear red, pink or black and that they bring card board and markers/paint to make signs. People can also bring balloons, instruments, body paint… anything that inspires them. The Flash Mob will then hopefully car pool to Stockbridge for a mob dance there and then onto The One Billion Rising 10×10 Upstreet Dance in Pittsfield.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR DANCE:
6pm-6:30pm
Arrive
Get a drink and some food
Watch One Billion Rising Break the Chain video in anticipation of learning the Dance
630pm
Welcome by Janis Broderick of the Elizabeth Freeman Center
Eve Ensler RISING Read by Kristen van Ginhoven of WAM Theatre
One Billion Rising Video
Break the Chain Dance with Karen Allison
7:45pm
Three Staged Readings from I Am an Emotional Creature by Eve Ensler
Read by Leandra Sharron, Alyssa Breguet and Harryet Candee
8:30pm
Door Prizes Announced
Throughout the evening:
Dancing with DJ Fern
Make your own One Billion Rising T shirt
Cash bar.
This is one of the launch events for the 10×10 Upstreet Art Festival running in Pittsfield, February 14-24.
ONE BILLION RISING 10×10 Upstreet Dance Party
Thursday, February 14, 2013, 6pm-9pm
Upstairs @ Spice Dragon, 297 North Street, Pittsfield
$10
HOW TO GET TICKETS FOR THE 6pm DANCE:
In Person:
Bagels Too, 166 North St Pittsfield, MA 01201
Bisques, Beads and Beyond, 141 North St Pittsfield, MA 01201
Phone: 1-800-838-3006
About One Billion Rising
One in three women on the planet is raped or beaten in her lifetime. That is ONE BILLION WOMEN violated. One billion daughters, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, lovers and friends. On 14th February 2013, V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, one billion women and those who love them are invited to walk out, dance, rise up, and demand an end to this violence.
About V-Day
V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, volunteer activists ran over 5,800 V-Day benefit events in the U.S. and around the world, educating millions of people about the reality of violence against women and girls. To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and educated millions, crafted international educational, media and PSA campaigns, reopened shelters, and funded over 14,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses in Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community. V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. V-Day’s newest campaign is One Billion Rising which will culminate on February 14, 2013 with a global action worldwide.