When you think of trauma, you might picture a haunting memory that lives on in the mind. But in the Twin Cities this weekend, dancers, visual artists, and youth of color are showing where it actually lives: in the breath, the muscles and the nervous system — and the creative rituals that help set it free.
Inside St. Paul’s Black Youth Healing Arts Center
“How do you deal with the trauma in your body? How do you regulate your breath? How do you make your mind slow down?” asked Darlene Fry, founder and executive director of the Black Youth Healing Arts Center in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood.
Fry started searching for the answers in 2011 when she sat in her office as director of college and career readiness for the Ramsey School District staring at a report that said 300 high schoolers were not going to graduate on time.
“It was very hard looking at those results,” Fry said. “There were young people attached to those numbers. Leaving without a high school diploma would really close a lot of doors for them.”…