Arts and Entertainment

Dance at Penn State Fayette will promote ending violence against women

In order to protest brutality against women, Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, will host a dance as part of the global One Billion Rising Revolution campaign from noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Auxiliary Gym in the Community Center.

One Billion Rising is the brainchild of playwright, activist and author Eve Ensler. The campaign launched Valentine’s Day of 2012 as a call to arms based on the statistic that one in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. This totals more than 1 billion women and girls. To combat these staggering statistics, the One Billion Rising campaign holds peaceful protests around the globe, bringing men, women and youth together to protest this grievance.

This year’s campaign, One Billion Rising Revolution, calls for change to bring about equality, dignity and freedom for women and girls. Therefore, Penn State Fayette and the community will come together to host a dance and celebrate not being defeated by this violence. The dance will be held as a peaceful demonstration to create a new kind of consciousness — one where violence will be resisted until it is unthinkable.

Penn State Fayette hosted a One Billion Rising dance in 2014. This year’s event will include numerous genres of music so that everyone can dance, sing and rise together. A video of the event will be posted to One Billion Rising’s website to show the world Penn State Fayette’s commitment to helping end violence against women.

Susan Crampton-Frenchick, coordinator of international and intercultural programs at Penn State Fayette, and Jennifer Soisson, community education specialist for the Domestic Violence Prevention Agency of Southwestern Pennsylvania, both organized and co-chair this One Billion Rising Revolution dance.

“I celebrate the extraordinary power of community as we work together to expand hearts and minds, shift paradigms and create a peaceful, mindful future for all," said Crampton-Frenchick. This event reminds us that everyone has a voice, yet many are not heard. Together we can change this.”

According to Crampton-Frenchik, the local dance was made possible by donations from the Domestic Violence Prevention Agency of Southwestern Pennsylvania and Penn State Fayette’s Commission for Women and its Office of International and Intercultural Programs.

The One Billion Rising Revolution dance is free and open to the community. It will be held in the Auxiliary Gym, located in the Community Center at Penn State Fayette, on Route 119 between Uniontown and Connellsville.

Last Updated February 6, 2015