Artist's Statement | Ellen Gayda's 'Her Body Cannot Tell A Lie' Performance

Her Body Cannot Tell A Lie by Ellen Gayda

Artist's Statement

Her Body Cannot Tell A Lie is my first spoken word/ dance performance. It is all about multi-layered communication with themes that speak to the heart of feminine mystery.

Through the spoken word text, the structured improvisational choreography and   music, this body of work reveals the personal and collective truths of women’s life experiences embodied.

The performance needs no translation as the message is experienced and evokes memories and emotions from the archive of the soul body .

The text is understood cognitively as well as viscerally when the languages of body and word meet.

The work  suggests that women, who are evolutionary hardwired to be life bearers, carry an unique constitution that is essentially necessary for the success of their physical, emotional and psychic survival.

Their capacity to remain vulnerable and receptive while demonstrating endurance and a prevailing spirit in the face of hardships, reveals a unique possession of power.

“Her Body Cannot Tell A Lie” exposes a woman’s natural impulse toward growth, mastery, willfulness, sacrifice, receptivity, vulnerability, love and loss.

My spoken word was written in the intimate language I call BodyWord®, that finds its origins of meaning inhabited within the anatomy of the body. It becomes recognized as a living language when experienced and felt with emotional and tonal resonance within the body, by both the listener (audience)  as well as the speaker.

Double entendres found throughout the text, reveals the transparent relationship between the body as the sole/soul story keeper and speech as a formative and informative power simultaneously.

My inspiration to write this work came from my own life experiences, as well as from women I have had the privilege to work with in my role as a professional healer, masseuse, facilitator of women’s circles and  body psychotherapist. I have listened to the deepest, most intimate feminine narratives, as my healing hands have helped women identify the corresponding impacts their stories have had on their bodies and their health. I have supported them in a creative healing process that “re-pairs” their mind/ body relationship. This healing work has informed me with a lifetime of wisdom on the emotional-mind-body connection and gives authenticity to this creative project.

~ Ellen Gayda
Founder of BodyWord®