In November 2019, SKIN was workshopped in Poughkeepsie at Queen City 15 Gallery and in a developmental residency at NYC’s Barrow Group. Each presentation was followed by interactive demonstrations of music or movement techniques for healing as well as talks by survivor advocates, offering:

• Simple tools to cultivate resilience whenever you feel overwhelmed, whether you're a survivor of sexual violence or experience other types of stress

• Ways to advocate for survivors and foster resilience in our communities

In NYC in a residency at The Barrow group

Followed by an interactive conversation with experts

fri & sat Nov 15-16 @ 8pm

Post-play events will feature musician and therapist Stephanie Rooker of Voice Journey and survivor advocates Amanda Burden of the Mt. Sinai Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Program (Friday) and Christina Ortiz of The NYC Alliance Against Sexual Assault (Saturday).

About Stephanie Rooker

Stephanie is a vocalist, composer, voice teacher, and therapeutic sound facilitator as well as the founder of the Voice Journey® Sound Center. She brings a dynamic, cross-cultural, and multidimensional perspective on sound, especially the human voice, to awaken the medicine of sound within us all for holistic well-being, personal growth, and creative empowerment.

Grounded in over 18 years of vocal training and inspired by studies with pioneers in the field of sound healing – including Silvia Nakkach, John Beaulieu, Louise Montello, Pat Moffitt Cook, David Hykes, and Don Campbell, Stephanie’s Voice Journey teachings integrate healthy voice technique with somatic awareness, deep & active listening, and fundamental principles of sound healing. She employs a distinctive grasp of cross-cultural archetypes and mindful facilitation to convey the vast possibilities of expanding consciousness as well as promoting healing & empowerment through the voice. Her teaching is effective for people of all backgrounds & singing experience levels and is especially helpful in freeing the voice from the constraints of past trauma, inhibition, and fear, in addition to offering the stress & pain relieving benefits of sound healing and meditation.

About Amanda Burden

Amanda (she/hers) is a passionate New York City-based anti-oppression advocate, power-based personal violence preventionist and community organizer. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan and has served leadership roles at several local and international agencies as a youth educator, peer supervisor, phone crisis counselor, emergency department survivor advocate and technical trainer. In the prevention field, she has been an invited guest lecturer, panelist and moderator at NYC-based higher educational institutions and community based organizations addressing the topics of power-based personal violence, youth mental health first aid and structural oppression in community spaces. Burden currently oversees primary prevention educational programming and community outreach at a NYC-based rape crisis program and serves as a board member and expert for okayso, a free app for iOS that connects users with personal questions to experts they can trust for quick, personalized support and advice. In her spare time composes and performs music, provides vocals for commercial jingles and writes.

About Christina Ortiz

Christina is a Senior Prevention Coordinator at New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, with over 12+ years’ experience in health promotion, mental health, HIV, sexual health education, violence prevention, sexual orientation, and gender identity. She received a Masters of Public Health(MPH) focused on Health Promotion and Infectious Disease.

In Poughkeepsie at Queen City 15 Fine Art Gallery

Followed by an interactive conversation with experts

sun Nov 10 @ 2pm

Post-play event will feature art therapist and movement practitioner Kelley Lindhart of Cold Spring's Dancing Dialogue and therapists from Poughkeepsie's Family Services Center for Victim Safety & Support and Grace Smith House.

About Kelley Linhardt

Kelley Linhardt, MA LCAT ATR-BC is a licensed creative arts therapist and registered board-certified art therapist. Kelley received her MA in Art Therapy from New York University, is certified in culturally-competent trauma intervention by the International Trauma Studies Program at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, and has undergone extensive post-graduate training in family and couples therapy at The Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City.  Kelley is a graduate of the Ways of Seeing training program in dance/ movement therapy.

Currently, Kelley is a part of a small private practice that specializes in embodied and creative arts psychotherapy, Dancing Dialogue LCAT LMHC PLLC, which serves clients in both New York City and Cold Spring, NY.  Prior to joining, Dancing Dialogue, Kelley worked in a wide variety of acute mental healthcare, school and community settings throughout the five boroughs and in San Francisco, California. She has also served on the faculty of the New School University and Touro College. She regularly presents her work professionally around the country.  She is a working artist and a mother. 

About Family Services Center for Victim Safety and Support

Our mission is to help families and individuals help themselves through direct services, collaboration, and advocacy. Part of the community since 1879, Family Services has been making a difference in people’s lives for 140 years. Since the beginning, we have sought to meet the changing needs of individuals and families in our community. Over time, our organization has evolved to include more than micro-level casework practice and now helps to shape policy, enhance systems and services, and improve the quality of community life, while still maintaining the direct services that support our neighbors. Family Services provides programs and services throughout the Hudson Valley including: Youth Services, Family Programs, Victim Services, Prevention, Community Safety, Behavioral Health Centers and the Family Partnership Center—all geared to provide hope, improve lives and strengthen community.

About Grace Smith House

Established in 1981, Grace Smith House is a private not-for-profit domestic violence agency, which provides both residential and non-residential services to victims of domestic violence and their children. The mission of Grace Smith House, Inc. is to enable individuals and families to live free from domestic violence by:

• Providing shelter and apartments, advocacy, counselling and education

• Raising the consciousness of the community regarding the extent, type and seriousness of domestic violence

• Initiating and taking positions on public policies in order to provide options which empower victims of domestic violence

When Grace Smith House was originally conceived, no one envisioned that our organization would serve over 2,700 families each year in flight from their personal domestic violence horror. Today, Grace Smith House has grown from a single crisis shelter to also include transitional housing and our non-residential programs and services. Our programs provide shelter, counseling, advocacy, advocacy and liaison services, child services and so much more. 

Elise Schuster is a long-time sexuality educator and youth development worker with a masters in public health from columbia university. Elise has sold sex toys and taught workshops on pleasure-based sexual health at Babeland and worked for many years at The Door - New York City's largest youth-serving agency. Elise is currently the founder of okayso.app, a free app that helps connect folks with questions about sex, dating, identity and more to teams of vetted experts who provide confidential, accurate, and empathetic support.  

Valeria Koutmina is a board certified creative art therapist and rape crisis counselor. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts Art Therapy Master's Program. Val has worked with a range of populations in the United States and abroad, specializing in issues of trauma and abuse. Sensory integration, metaphor, humor and play have significant roles in her approach to improve self-awareness, promote resiliency, and empower working toward well-being. Val is one of the therapists at The Art Therapy Project--the only non-profit in New York dedicated solely to providing guided art therapy to those seeking hope and support.