Loyola dance alumni Yariana Baralt-Torres and Maria Blanco of LOUD BODIES are curating their first show, Legalize Menstruation, at the end of this month and are using what they learned, or realized they did not learn, to guide them through the show-producing process.
Legalize Menstruation is being produced by LOUD BODIES in partnership with the Chicago Period Project. The Chicago Period Project collects menstrual products to distribute to local shelters, schools and crisis support networks.
Photography by Emma Petersen
The mission of LOUD BODIES is to combine dance and activism to address social issues through movement.
Maria explained that the inspiration for Legalize Menstruation came from watching the documentary “Period. End of Sentence” on Netflix. The documentary covers the period taboo in India and follows a group of women who make and deliver pads. Maria was quick to tell Yariana about the documentary.
“I saw it and immediately texted Yariana,” Maria said.”Because whenever something inspires us we’re like, ‘How can we relate this to dance?’ I just thought, ‘We need to do something about this.’ It was in the back of our minds and one day we just reached out to Chicago Period Project.”
The duo said that asking people for help has been important throughout their post-grad journey and for this project in particular.
“It’s asking ‘How can we benefit each other,’” Maria said. “How can we create a partnership with each other where we’re both benefiting from this? Which is something I think we’ve learned a lot during this process. Asking what people need and what people want out of a partnership. Because it can be different.”
“People do want to help so asking absolutely helps. It’s all about the give and take partnership,” Yariana said. “Nothing is for free so let’s work both ways. And I feel like that’s how it works for everything.”
Asking for help came into play not only with the Chicago Period Project, but with Free Mvmt Shop as well, where LOUD BODIES holds rehearsals. Free Mvmt shop is a space that offers dance, yoga, cardio and sculpt classes. Maria and Yariana met owner Ashley Rockwood and brought up teaching classes in exchange for rehearsal space.
Both Maria and Yariana explained that they both learned how to be scrappy and work to make their ideas happen from their time at Loyola.
“Loyola taught us how to be scrappy and that’s what has one of the best things I learned,” said Maria. “We’ve gotten so creative with-. It’s like, ‘Hey, we don’t have any money for the show. How are we going to do this?’ How are you going to get creative? And that’s helped us a lot. Specifically for this show.”
“But I think it’s because of the professors that you learn that,” said Yariana. “Because they are an example of how to. What I’ve learned from Loyola I learned by observing and seeing how our teachers would go about things rather than from classes.”
The two express that there are lots of things they have had to learn on their own along the way, such as how to write grants, how to create a budget and how to self-produce a show.
For example, neither of the two have experience with social media promotion or marketing, so they brought Jordan Kunkel, another Loyola dance alumni, on-board to help them promote their work. Jordan studied dance and journalism, and graduated alongside Maria and Yariana.
“My second major has definitely impacted my ability to thrive or survive outside of college,” said Jordan. “Specifically as a journalism major, early on I was in situations where, as a freshman and sophomore, I had to be making blogs and from day one of studying communications or journalism. I had to have a resume, be thinking about a website, be thinking about social media, and things like that.”
Overall, LOUD BODIES co-founders said their biggest takeaway was, if you have an idea, go for it.
“I’ve learned that you have to do things even when you know or think that you aren’t ready,” Yariana said. “If I had rationally analyzed this I probably would have waited a few years to self-produce my first show. But as I’m in the process I am so glad that we just went for it. If things don’t go perfect then you learn. Go with the flow. Don’t put that much stress on yourself and you will figure it out. And when things get tough, ask for help.”
Tickets for Legalize Menstruation are on sale now. Performances are Feb. 29th at 7:30 p.m. and March 1st at 5:00 p.m. at the Mason Hall at the Preston Bradley Center.
Interested in donating menstrual products to the Chicago Period Project? The Loyola Dance Honor Society will be collecting products in the Damen Student Center on Friday, Feb. 7th from 8am-2pm. You can also leave any products with an LDHS member or a dance faculty member.
Images courtesy of LOUD BODIES.