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ART HEALS

These are challenging times and we need to find and nurture all the things that can calm us, inspire us, and raise the vibration that will awaken us to fight for the future, to heal the planet and each other.

This is what art does. The non-linear, non-cerebral forms that are art speak on a different frequency above the chaos and dysfunction and awaken us to consciousness.

Art reminds us that the world as it is, is not all there is, that there are other possibilities to strive for. Art can jolt us open, penetrate our defenses so that we can see and hear what we have been afraid of seeing and hearing.

L.A. Dance Project’s outdoor stage

That’s why, last night, I took my friend, actor Saffron Burrows, to see a new performance commissioned by the incredible L.A. Dance Project. I’ve seen other performances of the L.A. Dance Project, so I knew something special was in store and I wasn’t disappointed.

The performance, Solo at Dusk, choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, took place in the parking lot of the Dance Project’s studio because of covid, the dancers wore beautiful, mysterious masks made of flowers and berries. We stayed in our cars, honked for applause and were served a scrumptious dinner like at a drive-in but this was 4-star gourmet.

Me, Saffron and Tulea in the car

Wow! It took my breathe away. Think of a collage of Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and classical ballet but the combo of movements added up to something totally different and more surprising than all of them together.

You know, in times of crisis, we need humanity, expression and community. That’s what art creates. The values we support today will determine the world we live in tomorrow. Please Join me in supporting L.A.s very own L.A. Dance Project. We’ve never needed the arts more: ladanceproject.org/donate #artishope

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38 Comments

  1. Jane, you are absolutely right, you have to breathe and nourish your spirit to move forward, now I can’t stop thinking about the coming climate changes, especially having 2 grandchildren under two years old, I would like to be optimistic but it is complicated On the other hand, you are gorgeous, your hair is spectacular.💕💕💕

  2. Hi, Jane, I’m very happy that you can participate in this moment, as you said yourself, art is essential for all of us. Taking advantage, you are also art. xoxo

  3. Jane, I have a friend who is a big fan of yours, she will be having her birthday in a few days, you could send “congratulations Luiza” to her? sorry to bother you, but for us this is very important.

  4. A great evening had by all and a gourmet meal!
    Your last blog mentioned garden space limited and yet birds and a squirrel visiting.I love my garden especially just now, and find the birds love suet pellets and dried mealworms .
    I saw a YouTube video today in which Martin Sheen was canvassing for votes as per .I presume he was his garden looking well as are you .My interest in the 2020 US election has been keener than usual for obvious reasons.It is so important to all of us.Climate change action needs the full participation of a caring, competent administration .
    That is not another 4yrs of DT !!!!
    This week ahead should be exciting .Brooklyn decker is doing her bit enthusiastically.
    Good luck .

  5. Wow looks like fun

  6. I serve on the City of Raleigh NC Arts Commission and co-chair our Grants Committee. You’re so right: the arts are a soothing balm that provide a bright spot during these dark times. I am amazed at the new and innovative means our arts partners are using to share their work. Receipts are down, but creativity continues to soar! Now more than ever, we must support the arts! Thank you for sharing your experience.

  7. Jane, it’s fabulous to see the diversity being created in these bizarre Covid times hey.
    I too recently saw a drive in dance show here in the UK ‘Spectacle of Light’….. it was amazing, started after dark, it was a fully blacked out stage, dancers wore full black with luminous paint, the lighting brought the movement to life, dancers came through the parked cars, the performance was so powerful, unique and inclusive x

  8. Dear Madam!

    “Art can calm us, inspire us, and raise the vibration that will awaken us to fight for the future, to heal the planet and each other” – words of wisdom, indeed. And when I think about this kind of art, your film roles, books and activism also come to mind. I was particularly encouraged by films such as “Klute”, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “9 to 5”. The characters of strong women, that you have impersonated so well, are my sheros. Thank you very much for them, from the bottom of my heart. We, women all around the world, need that kind of support the most right now.

    And especially in Poland. I am the editor-in-chief of the opinion monthly (knowing that such a comparison may be exaggerated, similar to “New Yorker” or “The Atlantic”) Pismo, writer and activist for women’s rights. In Poland, a country that once fought for solidarity, they are unfortunately very limited. Last Thursday, Polish constitutional court rulling (and the court itself seized in violation of the law in 2015 by the ruling party) banned almost all abortions – with exceptions only for cases of rape, incest, or where the mother’s health is at risk. Abortions carried out when the foetus is malformed, which accounted for 98% of legal terminations last year, have now, since Thursday, been outlawed.

    Poland already had some of the EU’s strictest abortion laws, now it is practically totally banned. Fewer than 2,000 legal terminations are carried out each year. But women’s groups estimate that up to 200,000 abortions are either performed illegally, or abroad.

    The Polish government has chosen to carry out the reform cynically, at a time when the number of covid patients is increasing dramatically, just like almost all over the world. Poland is under a lockdown, yet hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to protest against this law. Please imagine how desperate we are to protest in such conditions, putting our health and life at risk.

    The protests have not stopped since Thursday, and today all of Poland is to be blocked. We go to the crossings, walking around them, we drive our cars to the streets to block the cities. Protests take place all over Poland, not only in the capital, but even in the smallest towns, while police officers used pepper spray and physical force. Still, everyone protests as much as they can and as safe as they feel. Even the fear of the virus did not stop our anger.

    We, as Pismo, also contribute. The role of the media is to inform about what is happening, but also to inspire, showing why speaking on public affairs and activism are important. Therefore we also bought the rights to reprint your profile from “The Guardian” for the December issue, will translate it and publish in our magazine. But Polish women need your support and voice so much that could give them strength that I dare to write here asking for a comment and words of encouragement. I tried to find a link to your PR agency to ask for an interview or at least a few words for Polish women, but I could not find it.

    I strongly believe that the support you provided would encourage all the women who are now fighting in Poland to have this bestial law withdrawn.

    Thank you again for everything you are doing to make the world a better place.
    All the best, Magdalena Kicińska

  9. That’s such a cool idea! I’d heard of drive-in style concerts too, that’s a cool concept. Art will always adapt!

    Have a great day!

  10. Today send 1000 texts, I am already and expert, I have received some reminders in English and in Spanish from my poor mother but is ok, all is for you of course.

  11. Hi Jane!

    How wonderful is it that the Fire Drill Fridays Greenpeace volunteer teams have shattered our goal of reaching 2 million voters and now aiming for 3 million!!!

    I am in awe of the amazing work being done and the fabulous volunteers that I have come to know and admire! I have talked to so many people who are over the age of 80 and still fighting for our democracy, our climate and all things that matter!
    In a time where this world is in such a crazy state, these conversations have been so deeply touching and therapeutic to many of us!

    See you Friday & thank you for being our great leader!

    xo Kara

  12. Hello Jane ! you are absolutely 1001% correct about the Arts. It is such a shame that so much of it has been taken away from our Public schools. My daughter thrived on being able to dance and express herself.

    I wanted to ask you if you were able to catch a performance that was put on by the ” Students of the Dance Theatre of Harlem “. I happened to see a bit of it via Twitter and was completely blown away. These students are amazing , their ballet moves flawless , so much so that it took me a few moments to realize they were wearing masks as they performed in the streets of New York City. I think you can view the clip from @DTHballet if you are interested. They do work so hard to bring enjoyment.

    I hope to see more of the Arts included in this new Biden Administration , ( I refuse to think he will not win.) So much of it has been missing from The White House these last years.

    One last thing , I have to tell you that the Geek portion of me absolutely smiles with pride every time I hear a Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter reference on Grace & Frankie. I catch every single one… 🙂 It’s awesome.

    Thank you for all you do !

  13. Jane, I was just watching today’s Fire Drill Friday, and I just wanted to say thank you to you, Aletheia, Nelini, and Anthony and all of the past and future guests of Fire Drill Fridays! It was so moving, I am overwhelmed. I was listening to the conversations happening and watching the comments and it is just so amazing to see all of these amazing people united under one front, prepared to fight for a peaceful and just future whether Trump wins or not.

    That has been my one fear. What will we do if he wins? My question was answered today. The answer is that we will stand up for our rights and defend the rights of others, no matter the outcome. That made this dreadful feeling I’ve been carrying around significantly lighter.

    Thank you for having us all take a moment to breathe at the beginning. That was also really helpful in this overwhelming time.

    I’m so grateful for you and all of the Greenpeace staff and volunteers. I have met so many new people, been introduced to so many new ideas, and have been exposed to people who are determined to make this world just!

    Fire Drill Fridays has brought so much happiness into my life and sort of ignited a fire within me to fight for what I believe in (I’m only 16 so my family does kind of get tired of me always firing off facts about the climate and Trump and the GND, but they need to hear it, so I keep doing it! Haha!)

    Can’t wait to see the Reverend and Joan on the 6th! Stay safe and remember to breathe!

    Kennedy

  14. Hi Jane!

    I recently wrote about a remarkable woman I met almost exactly a year ago at Fire Drill Fridays and I wanted to share her incredible story with you:

    https://alexandracharitan.com/blog/nicky-sundt

    Nicky was very touched by how welcoming you were to her (and so many others)—your time in D.C. may have been brief, but just know that it continues to make positive ripples.

    xoxo,
    Alexandra

  15. Jane,
    I went to Barnes & Noble the other day and bought another copy of your book but asked for the CD. They didn’t have it and couldn’t ordered it. I just now went to your SHOP site and they only have the book, no CD. You asked if we had bought the CD yet, so it sounded like it was out somewhere. So I will try Amazon next. But have you done the CD yet or not? Dona

    • Dona, you buy an audiobook and download it and you can listen to it as many times as you want, I suppose it is like that, here I give you an example https://www.audible.com/search?keywords=jane+fonda+what+can+i+do

      • Thanks, Candita. It turns out that Amazon has it on Kindle but I have a Nook, (Barnes & Noble). The Audible, I’m not set up for nor quite understand. I don’t want to play it on my one computer and have to be in that room to hear it. So I haven’t quite solved this yet. But thanks for the information and reaching out to help. Dona

  16. Jane,
    I left my comfort zone and started texting with Greenpeace! I am so happy. I had such anxiety about it. Better late than never! I started meditating last week and also watched fire drill Friday when I got home from work. And did the breathing.meditating has helped a lot to calm me. I had such anxiety about a lot of things as you know , but meditating helps. I didn’t want to fail. Which is always my biggest fear. Thank you for all the encouragement you give every Friday and also on your blog. You are an inspiration to me. I look up to you so much. You putting me in your blog made me soo happy! I took the day after the election off just in case I need a mental day. I will be ready though for whatever we need to do after the election. Firedrill Friday’s is the only comfort I get during the week. Thank you for everything you do. I also want to thank Kara she was the Greenpeace volunteer who helped me get set up with texting. We also had a great conversation. She was such a help. She is also a fellow blog follower!! I am so happy that I can be surrounded by people who support things I support. My whole family is Trump supporters. I have no living grandparents to talk to. Also all my friends are trump supporters. So I am happy to be part of this great community. Hope all is well with you Jane! Love always,
    Stacey

  17. Hi Jane!

    Thank you so much for another great Fire Drill Friday and for the breathing exercise at the beginning! We all really needed that! I’m getting more anxious each day as the election nears and it is getting close to impossible to sleep. But I’m calling, texting and organizing every day through the election so this helps a lot. I’m so excited that we are well on our way to doubling our goal and reaching 4 million voters! We really have an incredible team. We will be doing special shifts of text banking today so it is going to be a busy Sunday. I also love how Greenpeace is preparing for all scenarios after the election, and is allowing us to sign up for shifts in case we need to do emergency outreach immediately. I’ve been attending the Protect the Results protest trainings and they have been very informative. Here in Chicago much of the city is being boarded up and they have already mobilized extra law enforcement. It’s a little scary.

    When contacting voters over the past few days I keep talking to older people, many of whom live in care homes, who have not been able to obtain their ballots despite doing all of the right things to request them. It is so troubling as these people are physically unable to go to the polls and mail in was there only option. Someone I spoke with already contacted her lawyer. It is crazy how many people have to fight to exercise their right to vote. Voter suppression of all kinds needs to end. I always knew this suppression existed, but I never realized it was so severe. The suppression of people of color, the poor, the elderly and other vulnerable individuals is truly sinful.

    I really hope we will all be able to celebrate together on Friday! I know anything is possible, but right now I just can’t allow my brain to accept the fact that #45 will be re-elected. So I’m just going to keep working and hoping!

    Take good care during what will certainly be a very stressful week!

    Jenny xoxo

  18. Dear Jane!
    I am anxiously following and waiting for news and results. Cannot sleep, just watching CNN coverage (and ABC’s). I keep my fingers crossed, hugs from Warsaw!!!

  19. I watched a movie the other day called Sylvie’s Love, it was wonderful, but there was a scene the characters are in a theater at a concert and this great tug at my heart happened where I realized how jealous I was, how much I missed going to see music or dance and the vibrations when you are in the room with artists.

    This is a hard time for a trans Jewish therapist in the rainy state of WA, hopefully we all stay inside and keep showing up for each other by being healthy and protecting each other with masks. I cannot believe it has almost been a year of this, but some day when we come out, I am buying every ticket to every concert and dance show I can.

    Thanks for your light Jane, my wife and I started following you during COVID and watching some of your old movies and it inspires us to know there are elders like you to admire and aspire to be.

  20. I’ve just watched the chase on tv. I didnt know that you had worked with Marlon Brando. Its a great movie. Lets discuss the movie.

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