How Was Your Weekend?

Alex Chester

OnStage New York Columnist

This was one of the worst and one of the most beautiful weekends I have ever been part of. Where there is darkness I was able to find the light.

Thursday 1/19:

I was lucky enough to be able to participate in the Ghostlight Project with hundreds of fellow artists around the country. We came together to be a light in the darkness. To show we will not shut up. We will continue to be heard and we will fight with our words and with our songs.

I then went to an amazing piece of dance theatre called "Sans - An immersive Dance experience" put on by Dance Theatre Surreality. It was raw, it was human. And it showed the struggle of being female since the dawn of time. Quoting Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette, using themes from Media and all tied together with a single haunting cello. This screamed anti-trump.

Friday 1/20:

I didn't watch the inauguration. I couldn't bare witness. I also had a callback for a show and needed to focus on that. Nothing screams "hire me" like an over anxious wreck.

I then went to my friend's home. A safe haven for artists, Broadway Diversity Project, who are questioning everything being thrown at them personally and politically. We stressed ate, or more she forced me to eat, and we talked and planned and mourned the loss of a country that doesn't want us.

Afterward, I went to a friend's Anti-Trump dinner party. Moving Gastronomy, it's a pretty cool concept - bringing together chefs, speakers, artists and like-minded people.

Saturday 1/21:

I wasn't sure what to expect at the Women's March in NYC. My friends and I met up, Sharpied an emergency contact number on our arms just in case the shit got real and something bad happened.

But nothing bad did happen. Instead, we joined hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, creeds, ethnic backgrounds, and sexual orientations. We marched out of love. We marched for a better world. We marched for a country that we haven't yet given up on. The energy in NYC that day was full of hope.

I hope this momentum continues. I hope, we the people, continue to fight for our rights, to NOT normalize Trump. Yes, he is the president of the United States, but he didn't win the popular vote. We cannot let small minded people scare us.

If this movement of resistance continues I have hope for our democracy.

Moving to Paris still appeals to me greatly. Meanwhile, I will fight for my rights and those of others with my words and with the art I create. However, I am going to learn to shoot a gun just in case civil war breaks out. The times are uncertain and it's better to prepare for the worst. But I'm still gonna cling to that glimmer of hope I felt this crazy ass weekend.

Don't give up. Continue to do your part to make sure democracy works. I have heard it from so many people that we need to learn to understand those who voted for Trump. I have heard we need to accept them and work with them. Personally, I don't agree with that. I do not want to legitimize their hate, I do not want to understand them. Their thoughts and behaviors are not normal in my world. That is not a country I want to be part of. Do not normalize President Trump. Please keep fighting. Please don't give up.

For more info on these amazing organizations click on the links below.

https://theghostlightproject.com/

https://dansetheatresurreality.org/

https://www.facebook.com/BroadwayDiversity/?fref=ts

https://www.instagram.com/movinggastronomy/

https://www.womensmarch.com/