This was originally posted on SubStack*
I just won a *BIG* research and creation grant from the Canada Council of the Arts for my piece named: Descartes Terror- Translation from abstract to physical apparatus.
I am so lucky to live in a country that funds circus arts and that offers the opportunity for artists to experiment and explore concepts. This wasn’t even possible when I started, circus wasn’t even considered an art!
So many people have tirelessly advocated for Circus to be a true artform, be funded, studied and researched.
This is a huge win for me, not only because it’s leading to the presentation of my Letters Project (there is still so much research and a few more grants needed) but it’s also using embodied circus practices to discuss philosophy, and gives me the opportunity to actually take the time to look at what I believe, write it down, and have it heard by those who choose to listen.
I am a street performer who stands on the street for a living, saying what I think and feel. In a world that silences women’s voices, this is an incredibly courageous act. Every day. Canadian society, Busking Festivals, juggling festivals have gotten way better at being inclusive of women recently, but there has been a long history of spaces where I was the only woman, or the token woman (/non-binary human), and then over the last number of years, dealing with disability, I was a disabled woman trying to grind out athlete level work while feeling like my body is made of sandbags.
Funding like this equalizes opportunities for many voices. The fact that our country funds Circus is such a privilege.
I remember being at a CCA meeting in 2007, being the annoying activist that I am, demanding to know why the circus wasn’t funded. Since then, people have worked tirelessly on legitimizing Circus so opportunities like this can happen.
I don’t think people get the chance to explore their own knowing and own philosophical understanding of the world to the extent that I’ve been granted. As a professional loudmouth, I have taken up space and spoken loudly – against all odds and all training and all the people who told me to sit down and shut up.
And I get to! I built a life where I get to! In part, this is possible because of the generosity of the public with street performing, and also thanks to the generosity of the Canada Council for the Arts.
I appreciate their support in making everything I do possible. Being funded means that I get to say what I think out loud, and I don’t have to worry about my politics being too politic-y or my worldview not being taken seriously, because it is taken seriously by these grant bodies. This gives me a living wage, while I say and do things that challenge dominant narrative world views.
How lucky am I? I feel like I am one of the freest women in the entire world. I fought hard for my voice, and sacrificed most “normal-life things” for my right to say it.
I hope to use my freedom to deconstruct domination worldviews, including my own bias, and hold up other ideas that are outside of my own – or at least deconstruct domination enough that there is room for other voices.
I acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Je remercie le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.
@CanadaCouncil @Conseilartscan
#BringingTheArtsToLife #LArtAuCoeurDeNosVies
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