In every single city, in every single town
we are, feels like going out of our way
to draw lines and to draw barriers and say
you stay here and I stay here.
We're creating such lines that are
That I think don't need to be there, and so we see it daily.
The flower lady is good. Okay.
Nobody seems to be listening.
The ability to listen and learn from each other
seems to be at a minimum these days.
And I think sometimes people stand up and they say,
well, I believe this and I believe that
because they just want to be heard, they want to be seen.
They're saying I want love, I want love, I want love.
it's more common than not
that people tend to be more polarized and broken
in relationships as opposed to looking for ways to connect.
More than disconnected and more than just sadness,
like a sense of I don't belong here
so what am I gonna do, and that breaks apart in society
as you have these groups of people that don't feel like
they belong and then they get kind of shut out,
their lives become very difficult to lead
because they feel that nobody is really supporting them.
In some ways the ways that we're all connected now like this,
we might need a little bit more of connection like this.
There are ways that we can teach each other
and learn from each other that can only happen in person.
When you're ready, what you'll do is
you'll put your hands in the air,
and your partners are gonna guide your hands
to the edge of the canvas so you can kind of get a feel
for the size and get your bearings.
Come here.
And when you're ready, you'll put your hands.
I'm gonna try my best to be concise,
but it's hard to be concise because I want to keep talking
because I'm so in awe of Live Art.
Oh my gosh, that's so cool.
Live Art is an all-inclusive arts program
that nurtures the talents of all artistic peoples.
Whether you're a technician, a dancer,
a poet, a singer, Live Art is going to present to you
a very challenging curriculum
where we're gonna mix and match the art mediums
so that you are challenged and you grow as an artist.
And that curriculum includes in it a core-value system
of acceptance, compassion and empathy.
And what do I mean by that
or how does that work in this system?
It's because the mediums are mixed up.
It's because all different types of people are mixed up.
And so the through line is to accept
this circumstances as they are.
I accept that this song is gonna be very challenging for me.
I accept that I have never done this before.
And my compassion and my empathy is that and I am with you
through this and I recognize you for what you do.
I see you, I hear you, I love you.
That's what Live Art is.
(Music playing.)
(Cheering.)
(Clapping.)
Another night and here we are again.
All our faults laid out ahead.
A community event like this has the potential for
incredible ripple effects because
children who might have been marginalized in the past,
other thinkers, you know my son is a painter
and he's brilliant,
but he just couldn't do junior high and high school,
and I think the potential for an event like this is for
people to see that everybody shines in different ways.
(Music playing.)
So I'll tell you what you need.
First thing, we make you feel better.
That little moment when it's just you and your own voice,
and that part of your other voice is telling you
I'm not good enough at this or I don't want to do this,
there is somebody out there that said, you know what,
I think you're really good, you should do this.
And you see all these kids, and these kids are having
that moment right now.
These kids are, just because this moment exists,
they're having a courage to come out there
and show this side of them.
Don't look down.
Hold on forever.
When we reach into ourselves and we share something
really intimate and all, it's wonderful because
when somebody responds to it and responds in a way
that is positive, that little piece of yourself
that you may have wanted to hide away,
which may be the most special part of who you are,
you may all of a sudden have a desire to now,
or not a desire to
but at least the courage to open up about who you are.
So I saw Soul, and after I saw Soul,
right as we were walking out of the Altria,
I was like, Mom, I have to do this.
And so it was my first rehearsal of Blue,
I didn't really know what I was walking into,
and it was a modern movement class,
and it was the love that just radiates out of that room
was just spectacular,
and I think for people with their first Live Art,
I want to help them that there's nothing to be intimidated by,
and I watch them being like, oh, am I gonna know people,
am I gonna have friends, everybody is your friend.
(Laughter.)
They made me a friendship bracelets.
I love that.
This is the real Live Art right here.
I would like to welcome
the rest of our family to the stage, please.
(Applause.) Don't look down. Hold on forever.
Honestly, I feel so honored to be on the stage with you
incredible artists. You're so creative,
and the fact that I get to sing my songs up there
and you guys are showing your talent,
it just warms my heart so much.
The Live Art experience is
really I think primary to what helped her feel like
things were going to be okay
because she felt like she was welcome,
she felt like she could be herself
and nobody was gonna make fun of her.
Alma: Like a rainbow.
The songs the first year to the second, the third, the fourth,
and now, they all just come in,
and it's no one standing there with their head down anymore,
everyone is looking around and their heads,
the confidence is glowing.
Hold on forever.
It's so humbling.
It's so beautiful to see a teenager
do something so compassionate without even saying
this is what you should do, and I think that
that's that growth of the program that we've seeing.
And now it's on our brains where we've created a whole curriculum
based off of showing compassion, empathy and acceptance.
(Music playing.)
Just take my hand, hold on forever.
(Applause.)
I feel like the audience will get this.
You never have to tell an audience
when there's a show that never happens like that again.
I might go on stage in my solo show and the other artists,
and the crowd kind of knows, oh man, he's doing this for us
tonight but tomorrow night he'll be in a different city
doing it for somebody else.
But this show in this form only happens once, tonight,
and I feel like the audience will feel like that they're
in the room for something really, really special.
(Music playing.)
It's out there somewhere.
You're never too old to dream.
Five, four, three, two, one.
(Cheering.)
(Applause.)
When I'm sitting in the audience and everybody around me
is excited and I see people crying
and I know that it's my kid on the stage
who's adding to the crowd's emotions,
that is a really powerful thing
because I felt those emotions for years and years.
Now the extended Richmond community is part of that.
The feeling of constantly being told
your child might not be able to do this,
but then you see your child on stage dancing,
or you see your child who
probably never knew what sign language was and now is signing,
and then you're thinking
my child is capable of doing anything.
Whatever your dream is, wherever your mind lives,
wherever your heart has been guiding you.
It's quite miraculous to see
when through creative arts and play and welcoming,
when that environment exists, I think people naturally
walk in and feel connected to one another.
Is out there somewhere.
In the audience right now are many different ages,
different colors, different people,
different sizes, but pretty soon
they're gonna become the human beings that have gathered
to support the arts and share the arts and absorb the arts
and experience the arts, and they're gonna laugh together
and they're gonna clap together
and they're gonna sing together,
they're gonna ooh and aah together,
and at the end they're gonna stand together.
And it proves to me that there is only one spirit
in the house right now.
There's only one living spirit, it's both in the audience
and it's on stage,
and art is evoking that and bringing that all to presence.
Some people are brave and some are afraid.
There's no substitute for experiencing another person
that is totally different from you are
to become at one with each other, to appreciate each other.
Some of us need a little time to see who we will finally be.
I think that by experiencing that person,
all of a sudden you have walked past the impression that you
put there and all of a sudden you're people with people
and all.
Go ahead, start pushing the limits.
Any time that people all gather together
around one universal thing,
It's a celebration of being human,
it's a celebration of that togetherness
and that connectedness that really is kind of reminding you
that we are way more the same than we are different.
Whatever you're looking for is out there somewhere.
I cried, I cried.
I mean it's like happiness and joy,
and you just can't hold it in.
It makes you feel so proud
cause you know the work that went into it
and how much she loves doing it.
Oh my gosh, if this was your first show
and that was the audience, whoa.
The audience participation, the smiles on the audience,
just seeing the students like, oh my gosh,
oh my gosh, they're smiling.
It's like yeah, cause you know why, cause you're awesome.
It's nobody's business, nobody's business.
I've been doing this for like six years,
and this has been growing and growing and growing,
and SPARC is just the awesome thing you ever been to.
If you're a student out there, please come next year.
Go ahead, start pushing the limits.
I'd love to bring my daughter maybe next year
just to see cause you don't get that degree of interaction
on such a level playing field, enjoying each other,
laughing together, singing together.
That's a beautiful thing to see.
Watching how they really put acceptance and empathy
and compassion to use is just outstanding.
Coming here you could just surround yourself
and think this is really all that's right with the world
and everything is gonna be okay.
Yes, it is. Yes, it is.
Whatever you're looking for is out there somewhere.
(Applause.)
I want them to take it with them.
I want them to take the Live Art love,
the Live Art unity, the Live Art dream
and take it with them into their lives
and be exceptionally kind to people,
be exceptionally inclusive and have people understand that this
is what we need, this is what you need to give to others
and have people take that away and give it to the world.
(Crowd Noise.)
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