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Sins Invaild @ BRAVA Theater SF Sept 5th and 6th 8pm

by Sins Invalid aka Leroy Moore (sinsinvalid07 [at] yahoo.com)
THEATER/SPOKEN WORD PERFORMANCE

Sins Invalid:
An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility

Seven provocative artists from California to the US South strip taboos off sexuality and disability
in a groundbreaking evening of dance, erotic spoken word, and performance entitled “Sins
Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility.” Shows take place
September 5th and 6th at 8 PM each night at the Brava Theater in the heart of San Francisco’s
Mission District. Local favorite Rodney Bell performs aerial work in his wheelchair lap while
Texas artist Maria Palacios performs her acclaimed spoken word piece about making love to a
woman in a wheelchair. This third annual showcase of poetic bodies and hot activism takes place
at 8 PM both nights.
sins_invalid_e-postcard_.pdf_600_.jpg
WHAT: Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility – an
evening of erotic spoken word, performance and video by seven provocative
artists from California to the US South

WHEN: Friday and Saturday, September 5 & 6, 2007

TIME: 8 PM each night

WHERE: Brava Theater
2789 24th St., San Francisco, CA

TICKETS: $10-15 sliding scale (no one turned away for lack of funds). Tickets are will be
available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com and at the door.

INFO: 510-689-7198
http://www.sinsinvalid.org

High resolution JPG images are available by request.

For Immediate Release CONTACT:
July 2, 2008 Patricia Berne (510) 689-7198;
pattyb7 [at] earthlink.net

THE DANCING TREE PRESENTS

Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility

Seven provocative artists take to the Brava Theater stage
to strip taboos off sexuality and disability

Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5 & 6, 2008 at 8 PM

SAN FRANCISCO -- Seven provocative artists from California to the US South strip taboos off
sexuality and disability in a groundbreaking evening of dance, erotic spoken word, and
performance entitled

“Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility.” Shows take place September 5th and 6th at 8 PM each night at the Brava Theater in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District.



This third annual showcase of poetic bodies and hot activism is the only event of its kind in the
United States. Founders Patty Berne and Leroy Moore, both Bay Area artists and activists with
disabilities, were inspired to create the event when they realized just how enormous the
difference was between the way they felt about themselves and how the rest of society did.
“We’re both pretty hot,” says Berne. “And we both humbly know it. Still, every day we each
struggle with the disconnect between what we know to be true about our beauty and what the
world seems to believe – that we are ‘less than’, undesirable and pitiable.” Berne and Moore
were also frustrated with the dominant view that people with disabilities must be asexual or
sexually deviant such as filmmaker David Lynch’s consistent portrayal of perverted, evil
cripples.

The two wanted to develop a show, which was simultaneously erotic and communicated
resistance politics. “It turned out to be easier than one might think,” says Berne. “People
claiming their bodies and desires for liberation are tender and powerful and fierce – and that’s

sexy.”

They took their idea to The Dancing Tree, a non-profit alliance of visual and performing artists
seeking to facilitate, develop, perform, document and publish the stories of underrepresented
people around the world. The Dancing Tree embraced the project, and last year over 300 people
witnessed the groundbreaking, erotic event in San Francisco.



This year’s line up includes 7 live performers from the Bay Area, Houston and Atlanta. Some of
the many outstanding performers include:


Rodney Bell is of Maori Descent and from Aotearoa (New Zealand), currently living in
Berkeley, California USA pursuing his dream of representing and supporting disability arts
world wide. Acquiring his paralysis as a result of a motorcycle accident in1990, he uses a
manual wheelchair for mobility and his culture for spiritual guidance. Dance has been his
passion for 13 years and with that experience he has earned the opportunity of employment
based in San Francisco, California, USA, dancing for AXIS, one of the worlds leading mixed
ability dance companies.

Nomy Lamm is a writer, musician and activist whose work has been featured in magazines
(Ms., Punk Planet, Make/Shift), anthologies (Listen Up, Body Outlaws, and most recently Word
Warriors and Working Sex, all on Seal Press), and onstage in theaters, universities and
nightclubs all over the US. She has toured with Sister Spit (1999), the Sex Workers Art Show
(2005), and the cabaret showcase Dr. Frockrocket's Menagerie and Medicine Show (2001). She
has released two solo albums (Anthem, 1999 on Talent Show, and Effigy, 2002 on Yoyo
Recordings) and co-wrote, co-produced and performed in The Transfused, a post-apocalyptic
rock opera about multi-gendered animal-human hybrids, in 2000. She teaches voice lessons, and
is currently working on her first novel, The Best Part Comes After the End.


Leroy Franklyn Moore Jr. is a Black disabled writer, poet, community activist, feminist from
Berkeley, CA and he is the Community Relations Director of Sins Invalid. Leroy has
collaborated with the Dancing Tree on a film based on his writings around themes of sexuality.
Forbidden Acts. Leroy has created Krip-Hop Project that produces hip-hop mixtapes featuring
disabled hip-hop artists around the world. http://www.leroymoore.com


Maria R. Palacios is a Latina Feminist Poet, author, Spoken Word Peformer, polio survivor,
disability activist and professional presenter. Her feminist collection of poetry, The Female King,
has made Maria one of Houston's favorites in the poetry scene. Her poetry focuses on
highlighting women's strengths and destroying the stereotypes and myths surrounding disability
and sexuality, race and gender issues and cultural diversity in general.
http://www.myspace.com/goddessonwheels



Cara Page is the co-founder and Project Director of Kindred a southern healing justice
collective; honoring & building healing practices and traditions to sustain our movements, based
in Atlanta GA. As a Black queer performance artist, organizer and healing practitioner living in
the South, she works for queer liberation, reproductive, environmental and economic justice.
She believes in the uses of the healing arts as practices for liberation, resiliency and
sustainability. She is also an aspiring documentary multimedia artist collaborating on several
national storytelling projects, including Depo Diaries, which highlights critical issues and
concerns of Depo Provera and its uses for population control.


Noemi Sohn is a poet, community activist and perpetual student living in San Francisco. She
reads her poetry at different venues and open mics through the Bay Area. Her 2003 chap book
interwined won the 2004 Pen Oakland - Josephine Miles Award. At times, she can make people
laugh with her wry sense of humor.


seeley quest has featured at the 2002 first international Queerness and Disability Conference, the
2003 national True Spirit Conference, the San Francisco Center's opening week gala Some Kind
of Queer, the 2003 Trannyfest, the 2002 and 2004 Bay Area Ladyfests, the '05, '06, and '08 SF
Anarchist Cafes, the 2007 SF Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival, Sins Invalid 2007, SF Bay
Guardian 'Best of the Bay' event Writers With Drinks, 848 Community Space and Counterpulse,
in residency at the Jon Sims Center, in the 'Trans As Fuck' shows sie also co-instigated, the 2008
National Queer Arts Festival in 'TAF' and 'Marginal Bodies', L.A.'s Trans/Giving, and on tour
with the 2005 and 2006 Tranny Roadshows and elsewhere.


Tickets to “Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility” are just
$10-15 sliding scale. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Tickets are will be available
at http://www.brownpapertickets.com and at the door.



Performances are wheelchair accessible and ASL interpreted and take place at the Brava Theater,
2789 24th St., San Francisco, CA. For more information, the public should call 510-689-7198 or
visit http://www.sinsinvalid.org.

PLEASE NOTE: This show contains nudity and explicit content.

“Sins Invalid: An Unshamed Claim to Beauty in the Face of Invisibility” is made possible by grants from the
AEPOCH Foundation, San Francisco Arts Commission, and the Astraea Foundation.



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