Speaker 1 00:00:59 And this is 90.3 FM Minneapolis and kvi.org. This is disability and progress. We bring you insights into ideas about and discussions on disability topics. My name is Sam. I'm the host of this show. We're not talking about Charlene doll because she is gone at California and that's wrong. And tonight we have Paul Herwig. Hello. Good evening, Paul. Hi. Hi, Paul is a co-founder of Ash off-leash area and their new program off-kilter which we will be talking about. We also have John Scallon. Hi, John. Good evening. John is the accessibility consultant and off-leash areas off shelters. What do you call yourself? Advisory panelist member. Guru's basically what do we call us?
Speaker 2 00:01:50 Yeah, you guys are, um, project leaders and project advisors and also selection panelists.
Speaker 1 00:01:59 Okay. Well, don't expect me to memorize that. No, I will mess it up for the rest of the program. You can just keep correcting me. Okay. Um, Amy, Amy is many things, right? Amy Salloway is a story teller teacher, right? Yes. Writer, storyteller and instructor, panelist member as well, advisory are not for off-leash areas. Off-kilter um, and we'll be talking about that tonight, the new program that our Felicia's doing, the community program called off-kilter. So thank you guys for coming in. It's nice to sometimes have people live.
Speaker 2 00:02:35 It's wonderful to be here with you live. Thank
Speaker 1 00:02:38 You. New and exciting. I think exactly all this time. It's really exciting and makes you almost nervous in giddy because you're like, am I real? Yes. So let's start out, Paul. I want to have you introduce yourself a little. Tell us about who you are and what the heck is off-leash area. Sure.
Speaker 2 00:02:58 Um, well, my name is Paul Paul Herwig, and, um, I am the co-director of a long time running dance and theater company here in Minneapolis called off-leash area. And, uh, we have been here producing original productions for 23 years. Uh, we have 20 is a long time. We have, um, 26 odd, uh, main stage productions, fall length shows. We only do original work and, um, yep. And a big part of how we work as off-leash area is, um, we love to bring in other strong minded artists from different disciplines, dance theater, visual arts, et cetera, music, um, people who run their own companies, people who also create their own work and we bring them together in our area to, to play and to create. And I think one thing that awfully Sherry has been really good at over the years is really respecting other people's talents and other people's power in a creative space and finding a very organic way to work together.
Speaker 2 00:04:06 Um, I mean, certainly off-leash area produces the shows, so the buck stops with us, but, um, we tend to be very generous and very open. And, um, so when we're creating community programs, it's the same thing we love to bring in people who are very talented in their own. Right. And very accomplished in their own. Right. And bring them together to facilitate working together, to create a new kind of program, be it a production or a community program like off-kilter. Um, and then I personally am also a performer and a theater maker. I'm a set designer. And for the last five years I have, um, been creating live animation projection designs for yeah. For dance and theater productions productions and for events. Well,
Speaker 1 00:04:56 I can say, um, how does kind of everything, because he, he, you guys did a play in my garage,
Speaker 2 00:05:05 Which we did how many years ago was that? Ooh, wow. Six, seven years ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1 00:05:13 Probably that was, that was, that was interesting. I thought that was an interesting thing, but you know, it gave me, it gave me a reason to make someone clean up the garage. So it was,
Speaker 2 00:05:25 There's always practical aspects of art making. That
Speaker 1 00:05:28 Was really, really a great
Speaker 2 00:05:30 One. Yeah. That was a, that was one of our early, um, community programs called the neighborhood garage tour. And we would fill up a, a U haul truck with a stage set, lighting and performers. And then we would go to different homes in the, um, inner ring suburbs and some odd places in the twin cities themselves. And we would conduct residencies like in your garage. And so we would set up a whole show in a garage and, um, we would stay there for the whole weekend and do two or three performances,
Speaker 1 00:06:02 Several of them. And I remember we hosted after each one that was fun, fun. It was a lot of work, but it was,
Speaker 2 00:06:08 Yeah, it's always a lot of work. It's, theater's a very labor intensive. And then
Speaker 1 00:06:12 After this, that whole fun release
Speaker 2 00:06:13 Party. Yeah, yeah. We would all get together with the audience afterwards and chat. And that was a great experience. Yeah.
Speaker 1 00:06:20 Has AF off-leash, uh, connected with the disability community and the, and the past.
Speaker 2 00:06:26 Yeah. Well, I think in a lot of ways, um, you know, I think that, you know, we're, we're, um, we're not like interact theater where the core aspect of our mission is working with, uh, people who have disabilities. Um, but in basically every other aspect of our organization and art-making, we've had some contact with the disability community, whether it's hiring persons with disabilities as performers in our show, or as designers, um, or in creating community programs that reach out and connect with persons who have disabilities and their communities like yourself. There was another woman whose name. Unfortunately, I can't remember whose, um, garage we did a, uh, garage tour weekend of performances with. And I remember one of the things she told us afterwards was that she had all kinds of people from the immediate neighborhood who she had never met in person who she met at the performances in her garage.
Speaker 2 00:07:29 And she knew them by their voices of course, and, you know, um, but, um, but she had never met them in person. And so, and then, uh, I, myself, I have a low vision and, um, uh, you know, I don't know the extent to which I have a disability, but I have low vision. And my first year of college at the U 45 years ago was when or 40 years ago, uh, was, um, supported by the state services for the blind and visually handicapped. Uh, I can't drive. So, you know, I'm not blind, but I have some significant visual impairments. And, um, so in a way I have been connected to the disability community and that I'm kind of in an outer ring part of that community. Um, I did a show with off-leash area about seven years ago called now ICU. Now I don't.
Speaker 2 00:08:24 And it was a show where I played a character who goes blind during the course of the show. And so we connected with blind Inc, uh, which is a, um, a blind persons and, uh, family, um, uh, service, uh, organization in downtown Minneapolis. And I took a cane walking classes with them and, um, oh, it was insane. I have to tell you, I mean, obviously as a artist and as a performing artist to have empathy for people, but I have even more empathy for a blind persons because, um, they were teaching me how to walk with a cane. And at one point they just kind of, you know, almost literally, and metaphorically pushed me out the door in the middle of winter to walk along Franklin avenue and Nicollet where it's really busy and really icy. And it was an amazing, amazing experience. I'm
Speaker 1 00:09:16 Pretty sure they had a lot of fun with you.
Speaker 2 00:09:18 Yeah, I think
Speaker 1 00:09:19 I know blinding and I know what they did.
Speaker 1 00:09:25 I also wonder I, so I do have a question about this because this has come up in shows in the past where theaters, or, or an, and as, as well as Hollywood, we'll do a story or movie or show or whatever on someone with a disability, but when it comes to visual disability, you know, they don't pass somebody with a visual disability. Now your case is a little bit different, but in general, that's what happens. And the, um, NFP community, which is part of blinding, has been irate about that. How did they handle that when you came to them for advice?
Speaker 2 00:10:01 I think it's because the story we were telling was in, uh, it was removed for me personally, but it was very much my story. I am an artist. And about six months before we decided to create this show, I had several significant retinal tears and, um, was facing the possibility of losing my sight. And so that's what the character went through. So I wasn't playing a character who was blind from the start. And so the show, honestly, it was also about the healthcare industry and I didn't have insurance at the time. And I was facing, you know, my wife and I were facing catastrophic financial loss from the result of these, of the costs of these surgeries. And, um, so we really took it to the system in the shell. And a big part of the show was also about the financial repercussions of facing, uh, major health crises.
Speaker 2 00:11:03 Um, so I think because we were coming at the show from my personal experience and not trying to reach out and pretend I was someone who I wasn't, I think there were really open to us. Um, but they also really wanted to challenge us and to really make us understand exactly the kinds of points that you had just brought up, you know, to really, if we were going to represent, we had to represent what we knew and not what we didn't know. Um, and I think if I could, if it's not, if it's okay to say our off-kilter program, we created this program and have we proposed to this program and we've created it with yourself, with John, with Mike Cohen, who is not here today. And with Amy as a program that had persons with disabilities at the center of the leadership. And I, I think I would say that Jennifer and I, as off-leash area, we've created a lot of productions.
Speaker 2 00:12:02 We know how to create shows, and we're really facilitating this program that I would like to think that the four of you are really in charge of, you know, I mean, we have the organization, we received the grant monies and are distributing them. We had experienced creating a production, but really you four I think are at the heart of making this program, what it is. And Jennifer and I, aren't pretending to know what, you know, we're not pretending to, um, say to the community what faith we think they need. We're really listening to you guys and you guys are telling us what the community needs and what would be good for the community in a program like this. And I, I think we're listening. So why did you decide to start this? Well, we have these connections to the disability community, through our art making and through, you know, myself, people that we've met that we've worked with along the way in these 23 years.
Speaker 2 00:13:06 And we used to have a building, uh, two years ago. Um, we were at the point where we had, uh, bought a commercial property and renovated it and turned it into a 75 seat community theater space and long story short, the pandemic halted, everything. And we had, yeah, we had to close that theater and sell the building because we couldn't afford to keep it open with basically no income for two years. Um, we, we did receive some state government support because of the pandemic funds, right. That were offered, but not nearly enough to keep us going. And, you know, we're, we're a mom and pop non-profit. We don't have access to large funds. Um, and so off-kilter was a program that we had devised to happen at our space. So the space has gone, but we want to make the program continue. So that's how, that's how that program first started off kilter.
Speaker 2 00:14:04 So how did you come up with the name off kilter? Well, we wanted to riff on our name awfully Sheria. Um, and I think we all, we, we, well, we put it to the advisory group, you guys, and, um, I think we had a shortlist of names and I think just by democratic consensus, without too much arguing, we settled on off-kilter and I think it's a fun name because it's slightly, um, it's not totally stable. It's a, just, it's a descriptor of being off-kilter is being slightly, not like everybody else. Um, and it's playful, but it's also using that I think is kind of a statement to say, we're not afraid to say we're different, we're all alike, we're all humans, but we're also different. And we have power in that difference. Would you say Amy? Yes. It's an it's it's deceptively empowering.
Speaker 3 00:15:07 Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think especially any population gets to claim all of the various names it's referred to as you know, so there's like the, the reclamation of, um, appetites that are not necessarily complimentary and that's a thing. And I think claiming, you know, um, disabled or handicapped or gimpy or off-kilter is fun and empowering, it's saying, I get to use this. Maybe you over there, perfect person with quaffed hair, you don't, but I do so
Speaker 2 00:15:42 Beautifully put,
Speaker 4 00:15:44 It was actually one time for one of our meetings. We all happen to show up and kilts and that's
Speaker 1 00:15:53 John, just, you were in the kilter. Sorry. We didn't want to tell you that. We told you we were, but you know, that was just to get you to turn your camera on so we can last later, John, tell me a little bit about you, what you do and how you got involved with off-kilter.
Speaker 4 00:16:15 Well, like you, Sam, I hosted a couple of the off-leash area garage plays. So I ended, I had seen some of their shows around town and been totally thrilled with what they could do in a small space. Um, I'd worked for VSA, Minnesota for a number of years. So trying to find opportunities for artists with disabilities, um, not only visual artists who have galleries that they can show in, but, uh, performers, and, and as Paul mentioned, there aren't too many opportunities for casting or, uh, making a person with disability, a key part of your creative teams. So, um, that was part of what we attempted to do at BSA over many years. And, you know, their groups came out of it, like the, uh, artists with disabilities Alliance. They're still meeting on a monthly basis by zoom, uh, each month showing, uh, what they've newly created, uh, in poetry or visual art or video stuff. So that's been kind of a fun thing. Uh, we collaborated with Patrick's cabaret over a number of years creating, uh, those various, uh, cabarets. And they were all led by people with disabilities caviar, able yes, yes. Crazy names. Um, and they worked. And so we were looking for possibly a similar, uh, crazy name or something that would peep people would remember and having off-kilter be so closely connected to off-leash was a wonderful, wonderful way to make that
Speaker 1 00:17:48 Happen. Amy, it is your turn. Let's hear your story about what you do and how you got involved with off-kilter.
Speaker 3 00:17:59 Um, I, I'm an actor writer, storyteller, and I'm instructor of basically any kind of narrative art. So if it's narrative, if it's true in personal, I am involved with it somehow. Um, so I have been creating autobiographical solo plays for a whole bunch of years, almost 20 years. Um, and I had, I had toured three autobiographical solo shows all over the U S and Canada through fringe festivals, and then as the economy changed, um, and, uh, it was harder to get whole shows booked across the country. I started participating in story slams and other, um, cabarets and collage type shows like Patrick's cabaret, hold
Speaker 1 00:18:52 On. What's a story
Speaker 3 00:18:53 Slam. Oh, like competitive storytelling. So the same way that there are poetry slams where artists, uh, perform poems and an audience judges them scores them, not that everything in the world needs to be scored and judged it doesn't yes. Well, not always. It gets pretty competitive, but that is not that that is not necessarily what I stand behind the most strongly as an artist, but, um, but it was fun. Yes, absolutely. And, and I think, I think, you know, as the arts economy has changed, there have been more and more opportunities for artists to collaborate and to create, you know, multi performer events and experiences. So I loved getting to do all of those. Um, Patrick's cabaret was absolutely one of my favorite places to perform as a storyteller and solo performer. Um, and simultaneously in a parallel thread as, as my life tracked on.
Speaker 3 00:19:58 Imagine, you know, the pastiche going by, um, I, I have lived with, um, multiple chronic illnesses since my twenties. And, uh, as the aging process often leads to those have gotten worse over the years. And as they have gotten worse, I've become more public about sharing them and being honest, being out, being a coat as a disabled person, that's a thing. Right. I see it is. Um, and we say yes, and honestly it was scary and, oh my gosh, it is big, wait, hold everything. It is because of VSA arts. It is because of John's organization that I got up the courage to start saying out loud that I was an artist with. It was because of the artists in VSA and the opportunities that they had and the grants that they had and the, the artists in schools programs. It's because I saw that. I don't want to say it's a niche, but, but that there was space that people were holding space and creating space for artists with disabilities that I finally said, you know what, like maybe I don't have to hide this. Maybe I can say, this is a part of my life and continue to be respected and continue to grow as an artist. Have you,
Speaker 1 00:21:20 You, as an artist found that when people thought you knew you had a disability, they were judging your art. Yeah. Comparison. Yes. I have an interesting story for you. Like I was interviewing somebody on here once that was doing an art gallery thing and she had mixed, you know, people with disabilities and people without, and somebody came in and said, and they're looking at the art. And they said, so which one of the pieces are from people with disabilities? And she said, I'm not going to tell you if you can't tell, then it really doesn't matter. And I thought that was an excellent answer because isn't that the truth. Right. Does it really matter if you can't tell? And I wonder a lot, and I think it's not, not just in your art, but in other places like it. Um, if you have a visual disability, when you do performance, when you do, um, writing, when you're, when you're acting, you're always compared always, unfortunately you're on display, so you can't hide it. And as an artist, even though you chose to be public, if somebody came in inside your art in some way, and didn't know you had a disability, what a wonderful thing. If they thought it was spend tabulates and, and they weren't able to judge you first. Um, but to judge the art first and then meet you.
Speaker 3 00:22:46 Yeah. Right. For me, a lot of the fear was that I would never get hired. I would never get hired or booked, no one would ever give me a job again, doing one of those touring shows or bringing my, um, my plan, my workshop to a school system. If they knew that I had a disability that involved chronic illness, you know, if not, to, not to like compartmentalize or stratify, but if you're missing a limb, like probably people can see that you are still, that you're still able to do the art that you are making. But if they know that there is a variable, that's unpredictable that, you know, in my case that my energy levels vary wildly or that my, you know, my health sometimes prevents me from, you know, from being completely consistent, I'm sounding bad. I'm making myself sound. No, not at all. It's okay. But point being, I was really worried that if people knew that if they had a reason to believe that I would be undependable or irresponsible, that is how they would see me. But I think
Speaker 1 00:23:53 I can see, can use that on all disability people sometimes. And even if it's, I mean, they can always use that whole thing about, well, can you do this? Can you this? And I understand it's an unpredictable thing. And that that's a big deal. If feel
Speaker 3 00:24:09 People without disabilities are also irresponsible and unpredictable
Speaker 1 00:24:15 Sometimes even more so
Speaker 3 00:24:17 Sometimes. Right. And I could, you know, I could have a whole diatribe or a whole, you know, document that I showed people saying here, I have logged my energy levels for the past three years. And as you will see, I take good care of myself when I know that I'm going to perform a show, but that just feels, it feels like no one should have to do that. No one should have to prove their worth because there is something different about them. And yet we make people throw it all the time. So, yeah, that was my big fear.
Speaker 1 00:24:48 Let's talk about the off-kilter performance coming up. Yeah. So first of all, we can't talk about fees. Sorry. That's okay. Um, how do, if you, if performers want to get involved, who can apply and what are the qualifications?
Speaker 2 00:25:09 Right. So, um, right now, uh, there is a call for proposals out, which continues through February 14th. So any artist, um, of any discipline who identifies as having a disability can apply. Um, and, um, the format of the off-kilter performances is a cabaret format. So we will choose seven artists to, uh, create and perform an original performance, whether it's theatrical, singing, um, uh, uh, dance, uh, some sort of, uh, performance art lecture. I mean, it could really be anything where we're wide open reading, uh, reading. Um, yeah, but it has to be a live thing. You have to be on stage and do this performance live. Um, so we'll pick seven people and, uh, the applications are available at our website, which is off-leash area.org. So it's very simple. It's like a dog park off-leash area.org, and you'll find all the information there. You'll find the important dates. You'll find the application. You'll find contact information if you'd like to ask us any questions. So, um, the applications are available now. The deadline is February 14th. Uh, we'll notify the seven day. Yeah. We'll notify the seven artists by, uh, March 7th and the performances. Uh, we'll be June 9th through 12th at the Barker center for dance on the west bank campus of the U of M Minneapolis campus. Okay.
Speaker 1 00:26:55 We'll come back to more of that. We are going to take a short break again, and we'll be back
Speaker 5 00:27:02 Programming on KFA. AI is supported in part by you care. You care has been part of your communities. It's 1984, whether it's Medicare, Medicaid, or individual and family plans, you care has been dedicated to finding the health plan that best fits your lifestyle. Learn more online at ucare.org/support.
Speaker 1 00:27:30 This is Cathy I 90.3, FM Minneapolis, and KFA dot O R G. This is disability and progress. My name is Sam and you're here with Amy, John and Paul. I almost done. It's almost sounds like the Beatles, you know, can we find a Ringo? Yeah, I don't know. I don't want to, I'll be George. You get to be Ringle back. I'll go back to cracker box palace. Wait, was that George? That did that.
Speaker 2 00:28:01 That
Speaker 1 00:28:01 Was, I liked that song. It's sung. Um, so the application, so what does the application require? I mean, what, what kind of things do you have to fill out?
Speaker 2 00:28:14 Um, there's, there's probably more information to read in the application than there is to actually write down, but we really want to make sure that people who are applying are really informed. We want them to know that we're really thinking of them. Uh, we want them to know that this is going to be a super supportive environment. Um, we want them to know that we hope that through participating in off-kilter, that they'll find it an empowering experience that will give them agency to say what they want to say. Um, you know, one thing about this program is that we're not curious, curating it in the sense that, you know, the off-leash area just stick directors and their advisors are only going to pick the kinds of art that they like. No, we want to have a really diverse group of artists and a really diverse performances, um, and levels of experience, levels of experience.
Speaker 1 00:29:13 Yeah. So you don't have to be beginner and you don't have to be a superb, you know, I've been doing this for 15.
Speaker 2 00:29:21 That's correct. We could have somebody who is 16 and somebody who's 80. Uh, we could have somebody who is doing their first musical performance, and we could have somebody who, uh, has been a professional theater person for the last 20 years. And now is going to sing a song and play the guitar. I mean, it's wide open. What
Speaker 1 00:29:40 Kind of support do you give them? Do you mentor them at all?
Speaker 2 00:29:44 There is the possibility actually for mentoring, uh, and we're going to, um, it's an on a per case basis. So you'll see on the information on the website that we talk about a mentorship aspect of the off-kilter program. And, um, that mentorship could be a young person who has never done a production before, but it could also be an older person who, or a veteran artist who is making a move and making a change. And they might want to work with one of the advisors, um, in helping facilitate that change successfully on stage. Um, but we, one of the things about the program, um, you'll see the basic stuff. Bio, describe your project, et cetera, what technical things might you want to have, but we also have a theme for this year's, uh, off-kilter, uh, cabaret. And, um, that theme is,
Speaker 3 00:30:46 Uh, Oregon recital, Oregon
Speaker 2 00:30:48 Recital. Do you want to talk about that?
Speaker 3 00:30:51 Sure. So, so I'm going to admit that we are borrowing that phrase from a theater festival that I didn't attend to personally, but that I saw friends of mine creating and putting on in New York city about two years ago. Um, it was, oh my gosh, it was pre pandemic because I know they couldn't have done it during the pandemic, but weirdly it almost foreshadowed the pandemic. Um, it was a bunch of artists who either, um, had disabilities or had health issues and artists who worked in the healthcare industry as their day job. And they created, um, mostly storytelling, but also some other kinds of art, uh, a theater festival called Oregon recital. Um, that was both sides of that picture. That was pieces by healthcare workers and pieces by people who use the health care system. And they had all different categories. So there was a cabaret about like wacky experiences in hospitals. And there was a show that was all monologues by nurses. Um, I know, right, like URI what we are now in how that happened right before it. But I just thought that the phrase organ recital was so clever. Um, as far as, you know, all the meanings of we are organisms, we are reciting things. Um, you know, we have internal organs, uh, then I was like, oh, note to self I, that needs to happen somewhere else. Something like that needs to happen. That someplace
Speaker 1 00:32:25 Outside. I was wondering like, where's
Speaker 3 00:32:28 She coming up with? As soon as we started talking about off kilter and having a theme, I was like, I've kind of been carrying around this phrase in my head. Can we use it? Um, so that is where Oregon resettle came from. But in the off-kilter sense, w what does it say in the application that, that, how, how do you think of that?
Speaker 2 00:32:46 So what, when people make their application to the program, uh, for this inaugural cabaret, we want people to consider, you know, w w how are the components of our bodies asking to be heard or seen and felt, you know, and if an organ in my body was the subject or the impetus to create a performance work, whether, you know, in my case it would be my retinas, um, you know, what organ would it be? You know, and how does that Oregon limit or expand my awareness of myself and others and the world around me, because it does every aspect. I know for me, even in my set design, it's so brightly colored and high contrast, because my vision is screwed from my retinal terrorists. Um, you know, are there components of my body that refuse to work in harmony with the rest of it? Um, you know, sometimes my mind, but that's a different thing.
Speaker 2 00:33:39 So, you know, or with society, you know, and, uh, how would we describe or characterize the relationship between our internal and external self? So we really want people to propose hard-hitting, you know, serious, even if it's funny or, or fun or whimsical, you know, serious proposals that really stand up and carry the flag of you and your community, if your work is community-based and just really, you know, sock it to us, um, go on on a limb and really propose something that excites you, that challenges you, and that you really want to get on top of the rooftop and shout about
Speaker 1 00:34:23 So that they, they chance to apply as now, where do they go again?
Speaker 2 00:34:29 They go to our website, which is off-leash area.org, and the deadline is February 14th. Uh, and the performances are July nine through 12 at the Barker June. Oh, sorry, June, excuse me, June nine through 12 at the Barker center for dance on the west bank of the U of M campus. And there's information at off-leash area.org for you to contact us and ask us any, and as many questions as you like
Speaker 1 00:34:57 Nine to 12, will they expect, be expected to do all the performances? How many disasters?
Speaker 2 00:35:04 Yeah, there are four performances, three performances, uh, evening performances and a matinee. And, uh, each artist, you know, this is a, this is a single grant project. So we would like to give more to the artists. We hope to give more in the future. Um, but it's $300 stipend plus promotional and technical support and the mentorship program. Uh, plus we are making this, the, the physical aspect of the production as assessable as possible for every person's need both audience and performer.
Speaker 3 00:35:39 I just have to say, that's one of the things that has impressed me the most about this project is from moment one. When we sat down as a group to talk about what do we want this cabaret to look like? Everybody was completely focused on, like, here are all the needs people might have. Here are all the impediments that people have had participating in or seeing the theater. And we like went over everything with a fine tooth comb thinking, what do artists need to know? What does the audience need to know? What do they need for this to be a good experience for them? It's really, it was really thorough.
Speaker 2 00:36:13 Yeah. And, uh, that'll probably continue. We'll probably just keep flushing that out and adding more, uh, aspects to the program to make it as assessable to everybody as possible. Um, and we're, you know, there's where there's a transportation stipend. Um, there's also going to be, um, an ASL interpreting an audio description at the performances. Um, we're also, um, yes, so all of that
Speaker 1 00:36:40 And everything it's accessible.
Speaker 2 00:36:43 Yep. Everything's going to be totally assessable. Yep.
Speaker 1 00:36:45 And what is your goal of your entire off-kilter program?
Speaker 2 00:36:51 Uh, we want to highlight and support artists with disabilities in the community and offer more opportunities for them to create and perform, um, unhindered by curatorial, dogma and, uh, you know, funding restrictions. And, um, we want the program to grow. Um, and we want to be able to do it every year. Um, yeah, that's what we would like to see. And
Speaker 1 00:37:16 How has this, you know, it's inevitable. We got to mention it the big Corona. How has this affected you in this?
Speaker 2 00:37:27 Well,
Speaker 3 00:37:30 The last time we saw each other in person before right now was almost two years ago.
Speaker 2 00:37:34 Yeah. So I haven't seen Amy or John or you Sam in person for almost
Speaker 1 00:37:38 Paul. I saw these guys later than me, cause I was one of the first say, oh, wow. I bet. I think you saw John later than me because John, I think you went to one where I said, I'm going to call on the phone. I remember reading over meeting notes. I saw Sam on speaker phone. So
Speaker 3 00:38:00 The first in-person meeting at the tech box, not tech box, A box, there was a box, um, was something like March 15th, 20, 20, and the next day, maybe hours later, we were all told to take shelter and never come out. So
Speaker 2 00:38:18 Yeah. Well, I tell you what we're going to do. We're going to make sure that everybody's vaccinated, who is on stage and in the building. Uh, we're gonna, uh, ask for proof of vaccination from all audience members. And, um, we're gonna also follow, uh, you know, we'll probably do more than the CDC will request at that time. Um, the Barker center probably has its own policy as well. Um, and we're going to make sure that audience is masked and, uh, we'll have to physically distance if that's still necessary. Um, and yeah, hopefully, hopefully, yeah, hopefully everybody get vaccinated and let's get over this thing.
Speaker 1 00:39:00 I'm really tired of this. I think we're all tired.
Speaker 2 00:39:02 I think people in the performing arts really appreciate the value of the vaccinations and how safe they are and available. They are,
Speaker 1 00:39:11 You know, I, I remember it. And I think I said this in a meeting, I went to a play, not, you know, a little while ago, that was, that was hosted in a theater. And you had to show proof of vaccination as it should be. And everyone had to wear a mask. And I, I, although it put a crimp, I mean, I won't lie. It wasn't same old, same old. Um, I felt much less anxiety than I thought I was going to because I knew I had protection. I knew everyone else around me was in the same state.
Speaker 2 00:39:47 Yep. In the summer of 2020, uh, off-leash area. We did one of our last projects at our, um, at our venue, the awfully sharp box. We did an indoor outdoor, multiple stage, uh, performance where the audience traveled from stage to stage to watch. And we limited the number of people and we made marks on the pavement and in the theater space where people could stand and I'll tell you, people really appreciated the links that we went to. Not only put some procedures in place, but to really communicate them. And people felt super safe and they had a great time at the show because of that. How long
Speaker 1 00:40:23 Will the show be and how many, you said eight people,
Speaker 2 00:40:26 7 77 artists.
Speaker 1 00:40:29 So how many minutes per
Speaker 2 00:40:32 It's? About five to 10 minutes per performance. Okay. So with an intermission, the show would be hour 45 or something like that, I guess. So, yeah. Yeah. And the Barker center is a big open space with vaulted ceilings and they've got, you know, cause it's the U of M campus. They've got new ventilation stuff in there. And um, yeah.
Speaker 1 00:40:53 Awesome. One of the things that I did learn after I attended by that theater, that all theaters that are not equal protection, they're not all requesting the same things. So I think it is really up to each theater group too, that that is doing their thing in a theater to be demanding of what they want. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:41:18 Yeah. Performing arts is a community endeavor and if the community sticks together and does the right thing, we'll get over this. And I should say, you know, goodness forbid if the pandemic is still raging next summer, um, we have a plan B, which is to do it outdoors, outdoor stages outside of the Barker center. So same dates, same times, same location, indoors or outdoors.
Speaker 1 00:41:41 And that's, that's a great thing to have. Yeah. You know, plan B's are always good. So give us the dates one more time where people can go to get their, the info on the website and how they can apply. And then we're going to ask Amy here some quick,
Speaker 2 00:41:56 Absolutely all information and the application to apply for off-kilter can be found at our website off-leash area.org. And the deadline to apply is the 14th of February. Uh, we'll let people know who the seven artists that will be chosen by the panel, uh, by March 7th. And the performances are June nine through 12 at the Barker center. So find everything at off-leash area.org.
Speaker 1 00:42:24 All right. Um, so John, did you have anything more to add before we,
Speaker 4 00:42:32 Well, I just think, you know, part of the inspiration is knowing what excitement it is to see or hear an artist with disability performing really well. And, um, now Amy is one of those artists who performs really well. So giving, uh, an example of what might happen at off-kilter would be, uh, an exciting opportunity. Wasn't it?
Speaker 1 00:42:56 Yeah. Amy, why don't you give us an example of the types of things you do do as far as when you're performing a writing or?
Speaker 3 00:43:05 Sure. So I set the stage. Oh, thank you. So I've become known, which I'm really happy about, um, for creating really extremely personal autobiographical stories and putting them on stage. I probably talk about things that most people don't want to talk about in public.
Speaker 1 00:43:29 And why, why would you do that?
Speaker 3 00:43:32 I find it incredibly freeing. I love, um, I love the concept that if you have had to suffer in any way, there is a vindication to turning that suffering into art. Um, and not just suffering if you, you know, any, any way in which you have had to face your own vulnerability and fallibility and humanity, if you can put that out there, if you can turn it into something that is funny or engaging or the creates community, then you got good out of it, then it, wasn't just a horrible thing that you have to carry around. And there is such connection with an audience in doing that. I feel like if I inspire someone else to tell their story, or even to just think inside their head, oh my God, I'm not alone. Um, that's it that's the best thing in the world to me.
Speaker 3 00:44:23 So, so when I finally started being out about being disabled in various ways, I started writing about it a little bit and performing about it. Um, and, uh, and I, I performed some of those pieces of Patrick's cabaret. I also work for a podcast. I worked for a podcast called risk exclamation point. Um, their website is risk-show.com and the tagline is true stories. You never thought you'd dare to share. So their mission statement is my mission statement. We match. It's so wonderful. So I've done a couple stories for them. Um, and I brought with me one of those stories that's long. So I was thinking I could maybe do an excerpt. Yeah, please do. Okay. So the setup is, um, it's, it's a story about how my chronic illnesses created the end of my relationship. Um, so this, this takes place years ago. Um, I, when I first got, uh, when I first got diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, which is now these days called Emmy or myalgic encephalomyelitis, but that is very long and difficult to say, so we're going to just be old school and call it chronic fatigue syndrome.
Speaker 3 00:45:43 Um, so I had a partner at the time. I was much younger back then as people often are. Um, and I was in the first relationship of my life ever, which was so amazing and so exciting. Um, so we will see when often, yes, wait, I'll take a sip of water. All right. So this is kind of, uh, in the middle of the story, uh, after, after I've been told that there is a name for this, this thing that is giving me horrible symptoms and taking away my functionality when David and I met, he'd wanted to move to Seattle where some of his relatives lived and he'd set that aside all this time because of me. But now he was in a holding pattern of caretaking and I was lying comatose in bed, which I could do in any city. It was a transferable skill.
Speaker 3 00:46:38 And David asked if maybe we could give Seattle a try. And I said, yes, yes, of course, yes. I sent this, even though I knew that Seattle had a reputation for being very gray and very rainy for being in fact, the suicide capital of America. I said it because I knew that our relationship balance was so off by now, I was more needy and more fragile and less desirable and much more difficult to love. We weren't balanced at all. And I had to try to tip us back. I told myself that I was going to fight like a mother to be normal in Seattle. I mean, sure. It was rainy, but it was also green and organic with rivers of coffee and tofu growing on every tree. And surely, surely this is where I would heal. I would heal. I did not heal the gray of Seattle targeted the tiny pocket of energy stored in my mitochondria and sucked it out like a fluke worm.
Speaker 3 00:47:48 The moisture created what doctors called a chronic inflammatory response. And like, we don't have to get into immunology theory or anything, but this is why the elderly and infirm moved to the Southwest. This is why your Bubby and Zadie have a condo in Phoenix because dry arid climates help auto immune disorders and moist wet places make them worse. I got worse, lifeless, bloated lost in brain fog. And I didn't have health insurance. I know it was very exhilarating. Luckily Seattle had this huge school of natural medicine that called best steer university. It still exists. And I started going to best years clinic where the students did their residencies. It was this one-stop shop for every single alternative medicine modality, and don't get me wrong. It still wasn't cheap. But compared to trying to pay for allopathic doctors out of pocket, it was the best option I had the clinicians all wore Birkenstocks and had names like spirit and salmon.
Speaker 3 00:48:58 And because I wanted to get energy and coherence and life back so badly, I yes, and did everything they offered. I got acupuncture twice a week. I got craniosacral therapy. I got a constitutional homeopathic remedy of six tiny pellets of, I don't know what uranium argon, ozone lint. I got moxibustion. You might know this, which is where during acupuncture, they'd put a burning incense cone in my navel to warm up my cheek. Apparently my key was Chile. I was told to wait until it was almost setting my skin on fire and then call out and salmon would come extinguish it. I was put on this extremely restrictive hypoallergenic diet that allowed me to eat pretty much just twigs and olive oil. And the best of your doctors also told me that I had to get myself an array of full spectrum lights. This was long before satellites were sold on Amazon because light has a direct affect on neurotransmitters in the brain, which have a direct effect on energy levels and wakefulness.
Speaker 3 00:50:13 And so David and I trekked off to Seattle full spectrum lighting supply the store whose logo is a smiling sunshine wearing sunglasses. And whose clientele is largely not with auto-immune disorders. If you get my drift, I went to the back of the store to this like tic-tac-toe display grid of blazingly, bright lights that looked white, but you know, contained all the ingredients. And my face was so close to those bulbs. I could hear my hair sizzling a little, the lights themselves were humming. They had a hum, they were warm. Like they were a living creature and something hit me in that hot hum. I just, I felt who I used to be in that radiance, how I used to be alive, laughing and mischievous and bold. I fully remembered the old me and it just devastated me. And I picked up two of those same bulbs wrapped in bubble wrap and saw that they were so expensive. So out of our price range and I just hugged them to my chest, like spare breast and rocked back and forth and sobbed like a crazy person with this desperation to get something, to get some kind of brightness back, we're getting one full spectrum bulb David.
Speaker 3 00:51:46 It was a hundred bucks. I took it home. I screwed it into our crappy little lamp. And I stood by it like a beacon like devil's tower every day, David would come home and say, Amy, did you go to work? You, you didn't call in sick. Did you? You need the money, Amy. And I'm sorry that I'm absorbing the light bulb go on. I can't do everything. That was a lot of fun. David was patient. He never laughed at the treatments I was trying or question their worth or validity even though nothing seemed to be making a difference. But he also talked to me less and less. Our car rides went from silent to really, really silent. Once I saw his bike ride calendar, his little planner where he wrote down his rides sitting open on the kitchen counter. And instead of the little mileage numbers and route descriptions, he usually jotted on each day. There was just the phrase Dr. Amy, Dr. Amy, Dr. Amy, this illness hadn't just consumed me. It had consumed David too. There was no more balance. Sad, sad, but beautiful. No, thanks. Well, thank you very much for that and sure that,
Speaker 1 00:53:24 Uh, I just, I could feel your pain in that one.
Speaker 3 00:53:31 Yeah. I could feel Seattle
Speaker 1 00:53:34 And I've visited Seattle. Um, all right, well we need to wrap it up and I want to just thank you guys very much for coming in. Um, I really appreciate it. And
Speaker 3 00:53:48 Thank you so much. Thank you so
Speaker 1 00:53:50 Much and apply to off-kilter everyone for who, who should. Yup.
Speaker 3 00:53:58 When you, when you show people your art and what you create and what's inside you, you keep it going. You create a domino effect and you let other people show themselves
Speaker 1 00:54:08 As well. All right. Well, thank you guys very much. Thank you, goodnight. Right. This has been disability and progress. The views expressed on this show are not necessarily though of cafe or its board of directors. My name is Sam. I'm the host of the show. Thank you so much for tuning in. We've been speaking with Paul Herwig, Don Scallon Amy Salloway about off-leash areas. Off-kilter this is cafe 90.3 FM and caviar.org. If you want to be on my email list, you may eat
[email protected]. Fresh fruit is up next. Thanks so much for listening, right?
