Jenetta Barry (right front) devised contemporary dance theatre, Insight: Beyond the Edge
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 12 June 2018)
Suicide and
grief tend to go hand in hand. Both are mental health issues that are not only
affecting Westerners like the fashion designer Kate Spade and the celebrity
chef, Anthony Bourdain. They are increasingly affecting Kenyan homes, touching
the lives of both young and old.
Jenetta
Barry found a way to deal with the grief that nearly overwhelmed her soul after
she lost her daughter Jen to suicide. But Ms Barry is blessed with an artistic
spirit and she’s not only evolved something she calls the ‘Epiphany Process’,
which is essentially a technique for coping with and overcoming grief and
depression. She’s also written books to help her come to terms with Jen’s fateful
choice.
But possibly
the most exciting, instructive and inspiring thing Ms Barry has done since Jen
took that extreme turn is to create a musical production infused with
contemporary dance.
‘Ins;ght: Beyond
the Edge’ could easily be called a contemporary ballet, not so much a musical.
Either way, it opens 23rd June and runs for two nights at Kenya
National Theatre. It’s bound to speak to
a broad population, whether one’s contemplated suicide in any form, or not.
Ms Barry has
been a professional dancer in a past life. But even with that artistic
background, it took her some time to realize one of the best ways to recover
from grief is to translate all that negative energy into a positive theatrical
production meant to send a message of hope ‘beyond the edge’ of that dark, deathly
path.
Devising the
show from scratch over the past year, she has been working closely with Arnie
Umayam, a professional choreographer from the Philippines. Arnie came all that
way just to help her fulfill her dream which is to create a production that can
artfully blend music (especially contemporary tunes that Jen had loved), modern
dance and the spoken word, both as poetry and prose to help others understand
that life is a far better option than suicide.
The ultimate
beauty of ‘Ins;ght: Beyond the Edge’ results from Ms Barry’s unique style
combining honesty and artistry. She lays bare her whole soul in order for us to
feel the depth and breadth of emotions that she and probably every parent who’s
lost a child to suicide must have felt. As a consequence, the show itself is
likely to provide audiences with their own epiphany experience.
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