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Local women’s stories in history are important to Beverly Johnson, and she wanted to help get it right. She didn’t mean to disrespect who they were. She did not want to misrepresent her legacy in any way. As a dancer at LITVAKdance, a non-profit dance company in Encinitas, telling these stories through choreography enabled her to be part of the company’s collective effort to learn a little more about history and apply it to the present at the same time.
The result is “Suffrage in the Desert,” a performance on Friday from 5pm to 6.30pm at the Borrego Springs Library that tells the stories of San Diego’s early pioneers through dance, accompanied by music by Meredith Yayanos and works of art by Wren Polanski.
“It ties us more closely to the history of the place we live and gives us context for what happened before us, the struggles and triumphs of people we never knew doing brave and brave things to pave the way for women and women of color like me, ”Johnson explained why this type of storytelling is important to her and the company. “LITVAKdance is about recapturing our stories and using this knowledge of our past to create our new stories. Our dance company is about the beauty of different cultures and diversity and about connecting with one another through our differences. “
Johnson, 28, lives in San Marcos. In addition to her work as a dancer, she also works as a coordinator at Community Interface Services, a non-profit organization that supports people with disabilities and cancer. She choreographed a piece about a formerly enslaved woman named America Newton (litvakdance.com/america) who helped colonize what is now known as Julian. She took some time to talk about what to expect on “Suffrage in the Desert” and her own love for dance.
Q: Tell us about the upcoming “Suffrage in the Desert” performance on Friday.
A: This project has actually been going on for over two years. Funded by California Humanities and the California Arts Council, it was originally intended to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in 1920. We were invited to perform at six district libraries in the San Diego area to stimulate dialogue and reflect on what it meant to be a woman in San Diego before the 19th Amendment and what the right to vote means in our society today. Our Artistic Director Sadie Weinberg and our humanities advisor Torie Quiñonez looked for stories that would recapitulate the way we think about who was part of this early story – sometimes those stories were surprising, like the solo I did on America Newton.
America Newton was an emancipated slave from Missouri in the mid-19th century and traveled west to California during the gold rush era. She helped colonize the city we now know as Julian. She had her own laundry. She pioneered both San Diego County and black women in leadership and entrepreneurship.
Q: Who is Litvak focusing on in this performance and why?
A: The five original solos are based on the life of: Dot Smelser, a Fallbrook woman who died of flu during the 1918 pandemic after caring for her husband. Her story is reminiscent of our own frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eliza “Jenny” Scripps of La Jolla was the younger and eccentric half-sister of Ellen Browning Scripps, and she often promoted much of Ellen’s philanthropy. María Amparo Ruíz de Burton from Jamul, whose story underscores the enormous influence of the Californios (Mexicans who lived in California before California became part of the United States) on our region. María’s story is a reminder that people of Hispanic and Mexican descent have as much right to call California home as people of British / Northern European descent. America Newton of Julian, a formerly enslaved Black woman who helped colonize Julian and owned and operated a small business. Eileen O’Connor, or the Lady in White, from Vallecito / Anza Borrego Desert. She was a young woman who died on the way to meet her fiancé during the gold rush.
In particular, the stories of Maria Amparo and American Newton underscore that San Diego has been a diverse place from the start. For this special presentation, our collaborative artist Wren Polansky also adds pieces that draw attention to the indigenous women who were here before the Spanish arrived.
Q: Can you explain to us what people can expect when they attend on Friday? And how does the choreography communicate with these women’s stories?
A: Viewers should arrive in the Borrego Springs Library common room by 5:00 p.m. to see artwork by Wren Polansky and hear music from collaborator / composer Meredith Yayanos, who composed the music for all solos. There will be a short talk on the project at 5:15 am before guests head to the adjoining outdoor amphitheater to see a performance of three of the solos as the sun sets behind the mountains. At the end of the program, the audience has time to talk to the actors.
What I love about San Marcos …
It’s quiet, all of our neighbors are friendly and we have a beautiful sunset view as we are on top of a hill. Everything is convenient – the grocery store, gas station, and motorway access are all five minutes away. Convenience is everything to me with the busy life I lead.
Q: You started classical ballet training at a community center in Yokosuka, Japan when you were 7 years old? What made you dance as a child?
A: My best friend was taking ballet lessons back then, so I asked my parents if I could take ballet lessons too. In the end, I really liked it and was pretty good at it.
Q: You also come from a military family? How did the transience of being in a military family affect your experience and training as a dancer?
A: Ballet is very big in Japan. It’s a popular dance form that a lot of people do. The teacher I had at the community center in Yokosuka had his own ballet company, and I also took some classes with them. Back then, ballet was very important to me. It was the only dance form I studied and I was obsessed with it.
When I moved back to the States, I stayed with my ballet classes for a while, but I started getting more exposed to other dance styles like jazz, hip-hop, and lyric poetry, and I started to get more curious about these other styles. Eventually I started taking these classes too, and I realized that my love for dance went beyond ballet.
I was shy as a kid so moving was a challenge for me. Going to a dance studio where I shared this love with the other dancers made it easier to make friends and feel like part of a community.
Q: Does your bio also say that your dancing is inspired by the beauty of nature and the playful curiosity of children? Can you tell us a little bit about how this playful curiosity in children inspires you as a dancer?
A: I find it important to maintain this playful curiosity and ease with every process I find myself in; Curiosity about how else I can move, how else I can feel in my body and what novelties I have been able to find in my body that I have spent so much time caring for and shaping over the years. When I think of playful curiosity, I think of the innate enthusiasm to wonder what else I could find out through these new processes of exploring new dance forms and working with inspiring choreographers. We have a performance with Litvak on November 4th at 7pm at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, “Revisiting Repertoire”. We’ll be performing some of our favorite pieces from past performances.
Q: What did this work teach you about yourself?
A: This work taught me the importance of knowing more about the women and people of our past, that there are many subtle but great stories to tell, and it got me thinking about what story I would share with the world must what inheritance I could leave here. Maybe I’ve done something small but powerful and someone in the future will look back on it and say, “Wow, she did something really great for the culture.”
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
A: Life is fleeting; it is too short to live in fear. I will not lie on my death bed and regret what I did not do.
Q: What would be one thing people would learn about you?
A: I recently started a YouTube channel (it’s called “Beverly Lina”)! It’s about the conscious life. I know you think, “How’s she got the time ?!” I ask myself this question every day.
Q: Please describe your ideal weekend in San Diego.
A: Coffee on Saturday morning, maybe at The Cat Café with my diary, planner and laptop to work on video content. Hiking, camping, chilling on the beach or outside in the sun. A good place for music to go dancing with friends at night. Sundays are all afternoon with Litvak for social classes and dance rehearsals, which is my favorite way to spend my Sundays.
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