The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Valentine's Day took on a powerful new meaning as a group of residents gathered near City Hall. As part of the global One Billion Rising movement, more than 30 people took part in a group dance to raise awareness of violence against women. 'Today is the largest day of mass action ever to stop violence against women and girls,' organizer Colleen Arnold told the crowd. The choreographed dance, led by instructor Carla Wabick, had participants contorting their bodies to a call-to-action anthem titled 'Break the Chain.' The song _ which includes lines such as 'This is my body, my body's holy' _ played at One Billion Rising dances in 203 countries around the world on Feb. 14. For Arnold, the dance was itself 'an act of protest.' 'It commands movement, not stillness,' she said. 'We cannot be still while women and girls are being raped, beaten or hurt in any way. Every person dancing and rising with us is registering collective rage at the violence inflicted on women, and at the same time committing to action against it.' Arnold, her voice amplified by a megaphone, referenced the eponymous goal goal of One Billion Rising. 'Imagine the power of one billion people rising up, dancing and showing our collective strength, our solidarity across borders and our collective rejection of violence against women as a status quo,' she said. The local dance, held on a blocked-off section of First Avenue in front of the Flin Flon Fire Hall near City Hall, featured numerous children as well as Mayor George Fontaine and his wife, Nora. Beginning around 5:20 p.m., the dancing lasted several minutes as participants did their best to follow Wabick's lead. A camera recorded the event for posting online along with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other One Billion Rising dances. 'We are rising together because it is our connectedness in our stomping feet and uncontrollable hips that the path and energy will be created to bring in a new world,' Arnold said. 'We will galvanize the will and the passion of everyone rising around the world to create change.'
