Creative Movement Workshop allows Houston Veterans to express themselves

Performed by a cast of Veterans and civilian dancers, the show retraces the epic journey of a group of soldiers advancing through a landscape of battlegrounds, revealing how they face danger and meet adversity through individual feats of strength and resilience, and find unity and a sense of belonging that gives meaning to their personal sacrifice and service to the greater good.

In addition to public performances, DIAVOLO holds free workshops for Veterans across the country called S.O.S. - Signs Of Strength, which aims to help Veterans restore their personal strengths, convey personal expressions about their service, and help discover clarifying context for their service experiences.

On Oct. 12, Houston VA's Whole Health department partnered with DIAVOLO to host a three-hour creative movement workshop for 20 local Veterans.

Air Force Veteran Maggie Peterson wasn’t quite sure what to expect when she signed up for the event and admitted she wasn’t an "artsy" person. But as time passed, Peterson, as well as the rest of the Veterans, were completely engulfed in the movements.

"It was neat to see how they had us start walking around," she said." "Everyone walked differently or crawled differently and to me that was a portrayal that all of our journeys were different. Some maybe were more difficult than other."

One exercise required the Veterans to partner with someone they had never met. While one closed their eyes, the other led them around the room. Then they switched.

"It was about putting our trust in these perfect strangers and really teaching us to trust in ourselves a little bit more," said Peterson. "By doing so, we trust in other people."

Army Veteran Tim Stroud said the blind trust exercise required an immense level of trust.

“For those who have served, we trusted the men and women to our left and to our right literally with our lives,” said Stroud. “When we get out of the military, too many of us lose our tribe. This workshop shows that you can trust people in the civilian sector who never served and who just want to connect and help you on your road to recovery.”

Along with the movements, the goal of the workshop is to create a space where Veterans are comfortable sharing with others.

"It's not about telling them that they are safe, but creating a space that they can feel brave enough to share what they have inside," said Steven Jasso, DIAVOLO technical director. "The best part is seeing how they express themselves in the beginning and then how they express and relate to us at the end of it.”

Sitting in a circle, Veterans took turns sharing difficult experiences from their military service.

Stroud, who served as a combat medic, decided to speak about a horrific day in Iraq for the first time publicly. While on patrol, several soldiers in his unit were killed by an explosion.

“During the class, I had a little anxiety about sharing,” said Stroud. “For some reason, the timing was right for me to share this piece of where we had loss of life during our deployment.”

Dr. Shannon Sisco, Houston VA Whole Health Coordinator, participated in the workshop as a VA provider and said it was one of the most memorable events she has attended.

"We told stories, we engaged in several creative movement exercises together, and basically, we got to experience the same connection, support and camaraderie Veterans experience in their service – just through a different medium," said Dr. Shannon Sisco, Whole Health Coordinator. "It's always an honor to be able to hear stories that really matter to other people and to hear from Veterans about the experiences that matter to them."