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Sins Invalid: Hot Activism that
Challenges Media and Ignorance
by Lesley Seacrist
This Friday and Saturday at the Brava Theatre in San Francisco, one show will strip taboos off sexuality and disability in a groundbreaking evening of erotic spoken word, performance and video entitled "Sins Invalid: An Unashamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility."
Shows take place November 2nd and 3rd at 8 PM each night at the Brava Theater in the heart of San Francisco's Mission District.
Founders Patty Berne and Leroy Moore, both Bay Area artists and activists with disabilities, were inspired to create the event from personal experiences relating to society.
"We're both pretty hot," says Berne. "And we both humbly know it. Still, every day we each struggle with the disconnect between what we know to be true about our beauty and what the world seems to believe – that we are 'less than', undesirable and pitiable."
With help from The Dancing Tree, a non-profit alliance of visual and performing artists seeking to facilitate, develop, perform, document and publish the stories of underrepresented people around the world, they created a show that would be able to challenge and share their stories.
Other topics include alarming sexual violence statistics of people with disabilities. Along with poetry, video and performance, body politics merge with sexuality to express many ideas of stereotypes, taboos and injustices.
This year's line up includes 9 live performers and three video artists from the Bay Area, Texas, Chicago, Massachusetts, New York, and even Canada.
“For us it means a lot for people with disabilities to be able to express themselves around sexuality,” says Leroy Moore.
Tickets to "Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility" are just $10-15 sliding scale. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Tickets are available at the door only.
Performances are wheelchair accessible and ASL interpreted and take place at the Brava Theater, 2789 24th St., San Francisco, CA. For more information, the public should call 510-649-8438 or visit thedancingtree.org.
PLEASE NOTE: This show contains nudity and explicit content.