Agencies join forces for annual event on Friday to protest gender violence
Organizers hope to surpass the numbers and spectacle that the 2013 awareness event generated.
An annual organized flash mob dance on Feb. 14 aims to protest gender violence and promote empowerment, organizers said.
The Chester County Fund for Women and Girls, the Domestic Violence Center, the Crime Victims Center of Chester County, Confidance, and Turks Head Yoga will combine forces once again to be part of the global movement, “One Billion Rising for Justice,” a call to end gender-based violence.
The campaign builds on the energy and momentum created on Feb. 14, 2013, when one billion activists in 207 countries and territories came together to rise, strike, and dance, in the biggest mass action in human history, to demand an end to violence against women and girls.
Two performances of the “Break the Chain” dance will be performed – learn the steps at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3weUkQ8uIVM – and the public is invited to participate through dance or as supportive spectators.
The first will happen on West Chester University’s campus at 12:15 p.m., in the lobby of the Sykes Student Union. The second will begin at 6:30 p.m. as lanterns will light up the night as dancers make their way up High Street in a procession to the historic courthouse steps. The culminating five-minute performance at 7 p.m. will occur outside the Chester County Courthouse, 10 N. High St., West Chester.
Organizers stress that this is not an event exclusive to women; men and kids of all ages and abilities are welcome. No previous dance experience is necessary. For more information, visit http://www.onebillionrisng.org/events/west-chester-rises/ or https://www.facebook.com/ChesterCountyRises?ref=hl.
