Episode 33: Susan Slotnick — The Choreographer Bringing Healing to Incarcerated Men & Boys
Susan Slotnick is a social justice activist and inspirational changemaker.
Born to an emotionally detached mother and distant autistic father; Susan rebelled, flunked out of school, and befriended people with complicated lives. Early experiences showed Susan how difficult life was for many and this instilled a passionate zeal for her to help marginalized, forgotten and disenfranchised individuals.
As a choreographer, Susan teaches modern dance to men in prison. She aims to inspire audiences and change lives one step at a time. Her humanitarian work has been covered and praised by several media outlets, including two national radio documentaries. Susan has helped change the perspective and mindset of countless incarcerated men by allowing them to experience emotions through transcendental art. Now, she hopes to inspire others to help make the world a better place and show that it is truly possible to overcome adversity.
For the past 25 years, Susan Slotnick has gone behind the walls at correctional facilities every week to bring the joy of modern dance to incarcerated men and boys. Her choreography dealt with serious themes geared to inspire audiences and students toward social justice activism.
Susan’s life work and dance company, named "Figures In Flight," has garnered much critical and professional acclaim. Numerous feature articles about her have appeared in dance magazines, she received the Dance Studio Magazine's "Caring Heart Award," celebrated for Women's History Month as Huffington Post's "Greatest Woman of The Day," featured in two radio documentaries and featured in the documentary "The Game Changer" that won Best Documentary Short at both the Harlem and Cannes film festivals. Susan is also the author of the book Flight: The Dance of Freedom.
In our interview, we talked about her early experiences in Afghanistan with a young boy who she befriended and whose unknown future still haunts her to this very day. We also discussed the following important topics:
Prison & Social Justice: An insider's perspective of 20+ years inspiring prisoners through the power of dance.
Art: "Laws change behavior from legislating behavior. Arts change behavior from the heart."
Dance: As a human, it's your birthright to dance and experience all emotions through this transcendental art.
Overcoming Adversity: It's possible to take your wounds with you and still do beautiful things.
To learn more about Susan and her work you can visit her website https://www.susanslotnick.com. You can also purchase her inspiriational memoir Flight: The Dance of Freedom here.
Learn more about Justice Matters — https://justicematters.transistor.fm
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