ELEPHANT the choreo-film is the collective effort of a group of interdisciplinary artists of color from New York City who came together to highlight the importance of looking at street harassment from a lens of reclamation of power.
Through interpretative dance, visual art and figurative language the video guides us on an experiential journey that invites the viewer into what women go through simply by walking down the street. The idea that a woman’s body is not her own and often whatever a patriarchal society has claimed it to be. We believe that all people who identify as women as well as gender nonconforming individuals who are impacted by street harassment have a right to reclaim their bodies and liberate themselves from the male gaze.
The video is a film adaption of a poem written by Nuyorican Poet Elisabet Velasquez and it is performed by dancer and choreographer Keomi Tarver, directed, filmed and edited by Connie Chavez and produced by Wendy Angulo.
Since it’s release, Elephant has won first place in the legendary Button Poetry video contest, was nominated for an award at The Outlet Dance Project Film Festival in 2018, performed as the opening act for The Amber Rose’s Slut Walk and has been featured in news outlets such as AJ+, NBC, AfroPunk, NowThisHer, Fierce by Mitu and many more.
Elephant: Choreofilm Against Street Harassment
Directed by Connie Chavez
Poem by Elisabet Velasquez
Body Paint by Alicia Cobb
Choreography by Keomi Tarver
Produced by Wendy Angulo.