Culture Vulture
Victoria Fringe Review
The Human Body Project
August 2011
Jason Schreurs
Better known as the show starring the naked lady (mother/artist/educator Tasha Diamant), The Human Body Project isn’t so much live theatre as it is unscripted discussion group. And it certainly isn’t all about nudity, although that topic naturally comes up, and some audience members end up undressing themselves. What makes the discussion so productive and engaging, centering around our connections to each other and our basic need to feel vulnerable, is the shedding of our protective layers in the presence of a fully nude woman who allows us to just . . . be. It all sounds a little, well, hippy, but the result is the kind of dialogue that rarely happens between a mixed crowd of strangers and friends. The show also tends to draw a lot of other Fringe performers who end up dominating the discussion. They’re performers; it’s natural for them. The really powerful parts are when other members of the audience speak up and show their true selves, or when Diamant simply closes her eyes, breathes deep, and lets the silence envelope us. Everyone should attend a session of The Human Body Project at least once. And if the 90-minute running time seems too lengthy, trust me, it isn’t nearly long enough.
http://culturevulturevictoria.com/test-only-victoria-fringe-festival-2011-reviews/#spotT
Ecofeminist, inconvenient prophet, artist, activist, cancer survivor, mother. Radical vulnerability on behalf of the collective. Using nakedness—literal+figurative. Processing my pain.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday Mag Preview
Monday MagVictoria Fringe preview article
The Human Body Project
August 24, 2011
Mary Ellen Green
Catch Tasha Diamant in The Human Body Project, a no-holds-barred look at vulnerability and how it affects not only ourselves but society as a whole.
Forty-nine-year-old Diamant performs the whole show in the nude, not in a sexual way, but to show how vulnerable she can be and to include the audience in that feeling.
“Naked is not my prefered way of being with people,” says Diamant. “I’m 49. I’m dealing with the same body issues we’re all saddled with.”
The entire show is unscripted, and sometimes non-verbal. The show is never planned. Diamant bases each show on how she’s feeling that specific day. “It’s always interesting and never the same,” she says.
“It’s a very challenging project for me to do,” says Diamant. “I do it on purpose to step out of my comfort zone. It really brings up a lot of my heavy emotional shit. Everyone that walks in has a different reaction. Some even burst into tears. It’s a bit uncomfortable because this is so far removed from what we normally do as human beings. Eventually people sit in that discomfort and we learn to abide in it and to move to a new level of understanding and connection.”
Diamant says The Human Body Project is a form of non-violent protest. “I think a lot of people understand the world is in a crisis situation. And I think it’s because we don’t understand our own vulnerability.”
Diamant made a commitment to herself back when she first began performing the show in Lethbridge, Alta., in 2006 that she’d perform it at least once a year. “It quickly became evident that it needed to be much more.”
She’s now taken it on multiple tours of the Fringe circuit, made a stop in New York and has even performed it at an educational conference in Fredericton, N.B. “People often find the show very healing,” says Diamant. “I know it’s just a tiny drop in the bucket, but I’m really trying to change the world.”
The Human Body Project
August 24, 2011
Mary Ellen Green
Catch Tasha Diamant in The Human Body Project, a no-holds-barred look at vulnerability and how it affects not only ourselves but society as a whole.
Forty-nine-year-old Diamant performs the whole show in the nude, not in a sexual way, but to show how vulnerable she can be and to include the audience in that feeling.
“Naked is not my prefered way of being with people,” says Diamant. “I’m 49. I’m dealing with the same body issues we’re all saddled with.”
The entire show is unscripted, and sometimes non-verbal. The show is never planned. Diamant bases each show on how she’s feeling that specific day. “It’s always interesting and never the same,” she says.
“It’s a very challenging project for me to do,” says Diamant. “I do it on purpose to step out of my comfort zone. It really brings up a lot of my heavy emotional shit. Everyone that walks in has a different reaction. Some even burst into tears. It’s a bit uncomfortable because this is so far removed from what we normally do as human beings. Eventually people sit in that discomfort and we learn to abide in it and to move to a new level of understanding and connection.”
Diamant says The Human Body Project is a form of non-violent protest. “I think a lot of people understand the world is in a crisis situation. And I think it’s because we don’t understand our own vulnerability.”
Diamant made a commitment to herself back when she first began performing the show in Lethbridge, Alta., in 2006 that she’d perform it at least once a year. “It quickly became evident that it needed to be much more.”
She’s now taken it on multiple tours of the Fringe circuit, made a stop in New York and has even performed it at an educational conference in Fredericton, N.B. “People often find the show very healing,” says Diamant. “I know it’s just a tiny drop in the bucket, but I’m really trying to change the world.”
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