High-Wire Resistance ‘Never Again’ takes on Texas’ anti-LGBTQ, antichoice political circus. By Neil Ellis Orts
F
‹
or years, Toni Leago Valle has watched Texas Republicans whittle away at reproductive rights. Even before the famous Wendy Davis filibuster to stop a restrictive abortion bill in 2013, Valle was thinking about how to address what she saw happening in her artistic medium of dance. Valle’s company, 6 Degrees Dance, is presenting the culmination of her research and development, Never Again, at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center (MATCH) this month. “I was perplexed by how to use this reproductive-rights material in a way that people will want to see [in a dance] show,” she says, explaining her process for putting nascent ideas onto dancers’ bodies. “I didn’t want to make an angry show.” So she sat with the ideas, continued to research, and kept watching the circus that politics can be. Then she started taking classes in aerial dance, which is commonly seen at circus shows and performed with a trapeze. “It all came together,” she says of her “a-ha” moment. “I have to do this as a circus. I have to make this the entertainment that we’re [already seeing in the political debate].” Valle began gathering dancers for rehearsals and trying out ideas. The movement became big and exaggerated, including clownish makeup and expressions. The first pieces she developed were riffs on themes from the January 2017 Women’s March, and the common “they’re asking for it” response to rape victims.
The Greatest Shitshow on Earth Toni Leago Valle (inset), a longtime observer of Texas politics, was inspired to create a circus-style dance show about the state’s never-ending attacks on reproductive rights. Carlos Perez, above, is among the LGBTQ cast members.
As one might imagine, working on these first pieces created a lot of conversation at rehearsals. After a handful of her cast selfidentified as gay or queer, Valle (a straight, cisgender woman) started listening to their stories of resistance—particularly the role that humor plays in LGBTQ activism. Suddenly, pieces about bathroom bills and immigra-
86 | SEPTEMBER 2018 | OutSmartMagazine.com
tion rights and gun violence started emerging. “It started out as [being about] women’s issues,” Valle says, “but working with these dancers, it’s become human-rights issues.” And that suits the dancers just fine. Kate Rash, who identifies as queer, was particularly enthusiastic about working on Never Again. “I just did a show about how society views
