Today we’d like to introduce you to Toni Valle.
Toni, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
As Artistic Director and choreographer for 6’, I create spoken word and dance works that challenge the audience to address political and sociological issues. I am driven by the idea that art holds the ability to shift cultural paradigms. By giving varied perspectives on societal and cultural beliefs through my art, I strive to change society’s belief systems that one set of rules should apply to everyone. I think these belief systems not only lock us into harmful patterns; they keep us closed to the evolution of ideas and behavior, therefore blocking our full potential. Children, women, men, humans – we are a diverse species with infinite choices, each specific to ourselves. I believe that true change comes from the individual, and by extension, society, and culture.
I had 25 years sober and worked for seven years in an adolescent treatment center. These life experiences define my art content with two ideas: 1) My art is embedded with the belief that human understanding, interaction, and tolerance is the purpose of human existence and catalyst for growth, and 2) humor is the best medicine.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It is not whether the road is smooth or not – everyone has their struggles. It is perception – how do we receive and perceive the bumps in the road as mountains that cannot be gotten over, or as obstacles to overcome to get to our destination.
I believe in the axiom that pain is a learning tool and construct for change.
Some of my struggles have been severe allergies that had to be treated with weekly shots as a child, and family and personal alcohol and drug addiction in myself and in my family.
6 Degrees – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My company name, 6’, and my work reflect the central theme of human connection and relationships as the healing component of human adversity. Since 1999, I have created and produced six evening-length concerts and over 20 repertory works on variations of this theme. My first concert, It’s All Relative, addressed belief systems, archetypes, and the generation gap through the eyes of my Italian family. CRACKED in 2006 and an encore in 2016 tackled how women have been conditioned to obsess on their bodies and sex through family, society, religion, and media enforcement, and the consequences of that conditioning on women. Tetris, against a backdrop of the 80-90’s, portrayed the despair and isolation of a confused generation, reflecting on comparisons of life decades ago to current issues of today. In familiar themes (Why buy the milk when you can have the cow for free?) lies a subtext of fear, a lack of human tolerance and understanding, and mass inertia. Baptism and Regifting Lions asked the question of environmental circumstance vs. personal will; why certain individuals can recover from mental and physical illness and others cannot. All of my works handle these topics with truthfulness and humor.
My latest work, Never Again, is no exception. For the past five years, I have been troubled by the political process that is systematically stripping women of their basic human rights. I believe this is possible because there is a general apathy that keeps people from educating themselves on issues and acting on it. Texas Government and religious organizations have systematically blocked women’s right to reproductive health care and choice. I have been debating on how to best address this issue in a voice that people can hear (I’m not interested in doing the Angry Woman Show.) The solution is by style – Never Again will be portraying the Texas Legislation and Women’s Rights backlash through a vaudevillian lens, with dark humor and wit.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I personally feel all of my 20+ years as a dancer/choreographer has been an amazing gift – that I get to connect with people through art. I get to do what I love every day and after 20 years, am still incredibly passionate about it.
I am inspired to use my art as a voice for change; all of my works have been about drawing attention to social or political conflicts and resolution. I believe that the key to change is to show the humanity within all of us.
Never Again, my latest work is one of my proudest achievements. I feel that it has been the sum of all my years as an artist, an activist, a woman, and a human. Being a women’s abortion rights activist over the last two years shaped this work on a deep personal level. I’m in the trenches every day with women who are directly affected by the laws Texas politicians make. This personal connection is embodied in the work in a meaningful, emotional way. The audience connected with and reacted to on a personal level with the political content of the show.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1043 Stonecrest Drive
- Website: www.6degreesdance.org
- Phone: 7134092838
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valle_toni/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toni.l.valle
- Twitter: @tonileagovalle
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/6degreesdance/
Image Credit:
Never Again performed 6 Degrees, Choreographed by Toni Leago Valle, Costumes by Judy Masliyah,Photo by Cory Cannella Photography
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