It has been possibly the most culturally exciting week of our lives! And it was much needed. I haven’t posted in a very long time (but I have been writing, eventually that writing will see the light of day). I often post a year-end blog, with some highlights of the year. I may or may not get to that this year. The three of us carry a lot in the day-to-day (literally, for me and David, lifting Oscar). There is a lot that we have to deal with from an accessibility and advocacy standpoint, and simply managing the day-to-day of living as, or caring for, a person with a disability. We get tired easily, and slog through the multitude of weekly aqua therapy sessions (which O loves, thankfully!), doctor’s appointments, and other obligations. It can be hard to make room for even seeing the people we love, never mind getting out to culturally enriching events.
This week we did it! Three remarkable events in seven days!
On Monday night, we went to the capstone event of the Rochester Frederick Douglass Bicentennial year, Prophet of Freedom: Honoring Frederick Douglass in Word and Song. Keynote speaker was David Blight, historian and author of the brand new Douglass biography. Every single person who graced the stage that night was inspiring.
Here, Ken Morris, great great great grandson of Frederick Douglass (AND great great grandson of Booker T. Washington) greets Oscar. They had met back in April when Ken was in town, and became pals then. (Photo by Chris Christopher)
The event took place on the 171st anniversary of the publication of the first North Star newspaper. A piece of music that was written for Frederick Douglass, on the occasion of him leaving England to return to the Untied States, was played for the first time in 150 years. Ken spoke eloquently, telling the story of his great grandmother who had met Frederick Douglass, and whom he knew as a young boy—sharing that the hands that touched Frederick Douglass also touched his hands, that he is one person away from Frederick Douglass, one person away from history, one person away from slavery. I have heard him tell this story at least three times and every time I get the chills, and tear up.
On stage, beside the speakers, was one of the replicas of the Douglass statue that has been created by artist Olivia Kim in honor of the Bicentennial. The statue was made in the image of the statue that currently stands in Highland Park in Rochester, which is the first monument to an African American anywhere in the US, dedicated in 1899. 13 statues were made to be placed throughout Rochester in key locations that hold an important piece of Douglass history. (More info here: http://www.douglasstour.com/ ). Ken’s mom, seeing this statue for the first time, had an emotional moment with the statue of her ancestor, as she took the stage to speak.
Here is the statue that sits outside Hochstein (the location of Douglass’s funeral) in the nighttime snow, after the event. Ken Morris’s hands were used to shape the hands of these statues.
I could go on and on about the night, how Carvin Eison, the project director for Re-energizing the Legacy of Frederick Douglass gave an inspiring welcome, or how Oscar stayed engaged for every minute of David Blight’s hour-long lecture, or how moving it was to hear Thomas Warfield sing Like a Motherless Child in honor of Frederick Douglass, or any number of other things from the evening. It was electrifying, and so inspiring. I have been on the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Committee here in Rochester this year, through my work at Writers & Books, and it has truly been one of the most fulfilling parts of my 2018. I could go on and on about that, too, but my aim is get a post out quickly that also includes two other events…
Thursday night we went to see Garth Fagan Dance. Garth Fagan started his dance troupe 48 years ago, right here in Rochester, and has long since gained international acclaim. He is most famous for choreographing The Lion King, but I knew his work long before that. My mom and I used to usher for his local dance performances when I was a kid, and that’s exactly what David, Oscar, and I did on Thursday.
Appropriately, Oscar and I are both wearing hand-knit items by my mom (my skirt, and Oscar’s Greek mythology sweater).
I don’t think enough time has passed for me to have formulated the words—or maybe there aren’t words because the art form is about movement—to describe the power of the evening. There was a beautiful dance honoring the lives lost on 9/11, an amazing new work choreographed by Norwood Pennewell, and there were two very early dances that were revived for the night, one from 1981 that I am certain I have seen before, possibly as a kid, and one from 1978. Those were equally exciting as the brand new tribute to, yes, Frederick Douglass!, that included, in one of the movements, the Olivia Kim statue of Frederick Douglass. The movement alone is incredible, and it always has been so with Garth Fagan. The dances tell stories and evoke emotions in incredible ways. But the way the music, the costumes, and the dancers are all in conversation throughout the pieces is truly brilliant.
This is the first time Oscar had seen Garth Fagan Dance perform, and he was deeply moved. He really enjoyed his post handing out programs to audience members. This is something we will do again!
Another highlight of the evening was running into dancer Guy Thorne, both before and after the performance. We had met him earlier this year when he spoke eloquently at the funeral of the mother of one of Oscar’s friends—and we learned that she had been an internationally acclaimed dancer herself, who had also danced with Garth Fagan. Oscar’s friend has since moved back to Jamaica, where most of his family lives, and they exchange email from time to time. Running into Guy added to the warmth of the night for us.
And that brings us to Sunday:
Hamilton!
Last week a contact we have at the Make-A-Wish Foundation got in touch with us to let us know that a donor had donated 4 tickets to Hamilton in Buffalo and she thought of Oscar right away, as she is aware that Oscar is a serious Hamilton fan. Oscar is a serious Hamilton fan. That’s an understatement. He started memorizing the show the day he got the soundtrack, two years ago, and the music has often soundtracked his day since then. Lin-Manuel Miranda has become his hero. We had to jump at this opportunity. The seats were not wheelchair accessible, but they were in the orchestra, and on an aisle, so we decided it was worth doing whatever we needed to (booster seat, cushions, fighting the crowds with a wheelchair), to make it happen, to transfer Oscar into a theatre seat. I didn’t tell anyone about the tickets for fear of jinxing this opportunity (i.e. Oscar getting sick, a major snow storm, etc).
Turns out they were pretty spectacular seats…
The fourth seat went to Oscar’s great friend Charlie, whose family first turned us onto Hamilton!
Of course the show was amazing, to see this music come to life on stage. To have these incredible lyrics that we know inside and out take on a three-dimensional moving shape. It was so fantastic to listen to Oscar and Charlie’s critique on the way home, because as well as I know the show, they know it ten times better, and they could really identify the moments that were very different from the original cast recording—for better or for worse—and we all reveled in the moments that brought the story to life in a way that the music alone can’t. It was truly magical, to be right there in the room where it happens…
It was just too cold to have the patience to line up a proper selfie with the marquis in perfect alignment, but we tried!
We are a family that values the arts so much, and we prioritize the arts in our lives. But sometimes circumstances or resources don’t always allow us to participate to the fullest extent we might want to. We are deeply grateful for these experiences this week, that pulled us out of the daily grind, and so thankful for the people who made these experiences possible for us.
What a week!
