Project: BECOMING Pilsen began as an outgrowth of INSPIRIT’s 2004 performance season entitled BECOMING. At the conclusion of the concert series the company decided to further investigate the evolution of the modern day woman. Womanhood in the twenty-first century is a complicated issue; how it is played out in our everyday lives is even more complex. Spirituality, mental and physical health, personal and professional relationships, formal education, beauty and careers are just some of the isolated yet interrelated aspects of a woman’s life that deeply influence how she makes her decisions. Today, every woman is left to recite the dance of life gracefully; some with formal training--others without. As a dance company we realized that our artistic work has the potential to create long-lasting positive change in the lives of those women left alone to freestyle the movements of life. As a company we felt it was important to focus our work on creating a program that concentrates on meeting the needs of burgeoning women. The expansion of INSPIRIT’s work sprouts from Christal Brown’s work at Middlebury College in Vermont. Thus, the birth of BECOMING Pilsen . Today, BECOMING Pilsen is an independent community engagement project with an expansive mission to create self-actualized women. Unlike the performance centered company work, BECOMING Pilsen works with adolescent and teenage young women from communities nationwide with or without dance training or interest. We are prepared to enhance all of our participant’s distinctive skills and talents by providing them with instruction focused on their physical and mental health. The BECOMING Pilsen curriculum uses yoga, creative writing, dance, meditation, capoeira and other expressive modalities; thus taking our participants on an invaluable journey into womanhood. All of our activities are discussion-based and designed to encourage an outgrowth of limitless possibilities and equip each and every young woman with the tools necessary to take independent steps towards her life goals.
