The Step Into Your Light Project
The Step Into Your Light Project will work with non-English speaking Hmong women elders to give them an opportunity to explore cultural dances they wouldn't have access to nor find a reason to try something new. The goal of this project is to help Hmong women step out of their comfort zones to step into the spotlight. This experience will be documented, narrated, and translated to be published on YouTube to encourage all women to not be afraid of their own light.
2022-2023 Cultural Heritage and Community Identity Grants - Spring 2022
1. I hope to serve 10-20 Hmong women with at least 42 hours of face-to-face time.
2. I hope to use the oral evaluations to determine the women's level of understanding on identity.
3. I hope to use the documentation from this project to inspire other elders to live life creatively. ; 1. I hope to serve 10-20 Hmong women with at least 42 hours of face-to-face time.
2. I hope to use the oral evaluations to determine the women's level of understanding on identity.
3. I hope to use the documentation from this project to inspire other elders to live life creatively.
The Step Into Your Light Project (TSYLP) united Hmong women and girls of all ages to engage in movement and dance. This may seem like a common activity in some cultures, but for a community that has excluded dance and movement from its traditions, it is significant. We conducted eight cultural dance workshops, offering more than eight hours of dance, movement, and education, which influenced 85 adults, 24 youths, and four elders, totaling 113 dancers! Additionally, we rented space at a local Hmong dance studio and sourced our sweets from four local Hmong businesses. The objective of this initiative was to encourage Hmong women elders affected by the pandemic to engage in physical activity and socialize. However, as the grant was primarily active during the winter and spring, the availability of outdoor spaces for hosting workshops was limited. Despite having a turnout of 113 dancers, only four of them were non-English speaking elders. Nevertheless, our Facebook reels have successfully reached an audience of 4,120 people, generating 926 engagements. An unexpected success of this project was a change in mindset regarding the exclusion of dance and movement from Hmong culture. As a community, we have overlooked the therapeutic benefits that these movements can have on the mind, body, and soul. There has been a lack of spaces where people of different generations can connect and have opportunities to interact with other cultural communities. Despite only being able to finish a portion of the grant, I measured the success of the project through the radiant smiles of the elders, their expressions of gratitude (as well as that of the teachers), and the consistent return of the dancers every week. The participants shared numerous compliments on how much they enjoyed the opportunity to move freely, make mistakes and build confidence, receive physical exercise, and most importantly, make new connections and escape the confines of their homes. They expressed these sentiments both verbally and in writing.
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