The study of movement brought Marya Barrios to Columbus and the practice of movement (for the moment) keeps her here. Her father moved from Venezuela to New York in 1993 and then from New York to Ohio to pursue his Master’s in technology and dance through the Ohio State Dance Department. Barrios joined her father shortly after his move to Columbus. At the age of 15, she left behind a Venezuela already exhibiting early symptoms of political and social unrest.
When explaining her experience running Grrrls Rock Columbus – a rock camp that teaches instruments to a group of 12 to 18-year-old girls, trans, and gender variant youths – Meg Zakany is often met with comments like, “I’m sure there’s a lot of fighting.” The assumption exists that an all-girls’ space must be rife with competition and rampant emotions. This isn’t the case. Zakany and others help campers create their own powerful spaces for positive self-expression.
The conversation with Kevin Bilapka Arbelaez in the noisy Cup O’ Joe Clintonville lasted longer than the usual 30-minutes. There was just too much to talk about: his work at St. Vincent Family Center, musical solo projects, and writing with the band didi. We also mulled over issues of alienation in the community and the complexity of identifying as half one thing and half something else… something we both think a lot about.
Ever since she was young, Jasmine Rosario’s dreamed of being “a badass female musician.” Based on our conversation at Lineage Brewery near her home in Clintonville, it’s safe to say she’s reached this goal. Rosario is a songwriter and guitarist for the Columbus, Ohio-based band The Original Soundtrack. The music she plays and writes for this project is inspired by her love of rhythm – a musical influence she attributes to her family and Puerto Rican culture.