FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cindy Deppe, media relations, 641-269-4834

April 8, 2008

"STORY OF RAPE SURVIVOR (SOARS)" TO PERFORM AT GRINNELL COLLEGE

GRINNELL, IA - On Thurs., Apr. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Harris Center Concert Hall on the Grinnell College campus, members of A Long Walk Home, Inc., will present a two-hour multimedia performance piece entitled "SOARS (Story of a Rape Survivor)." The performance uses modern dance, the spoken word, photography, and music to educate the public about sexual violence. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Salamisheh Tillet, co-founder and program director of A Long Walk Home, Inc., describes SOARS as "a performance about one woman’s journey to reclaim her body, sexuality, spirituality, and self-esteem after being sexually assaulted in college. Our diverse cast works to ease the shame, guilt, and self-blame that rape victims too often feel by presenting a story of hope and healing."

A Long Walk Home, Inc. is a non-profit organization that uses art therapy and the visual and performance arts to document, educate, and bring about social change, using testimonies, poetry, music, photographs, and videos of and by women and children, with the goal of providing safe and entertaining forums to learn about healing from trauma.

The performance by A Long Walk Home is sponsored by the Grinnell College Feminist Action Coalition and the Gender and Women’s Studies Concentration. The performance is the culmination of the college’s week-long Take Back the Night events series, which includes lectures and a campus-wide rally. More information about SOARS is available at http://www.alongwalkhome.org/programs.htm. Harris Center is located at 1114 10th Ave. on the Grinnell College campus.

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