Q&A
Council Member Holden discusses success story with Roman Baca
1:24:02
·
114 sec
Council Member Robert Holden asks Roman Baca of Exit12 Dance Company for a success story demonstrating the impact of their work. Baca shares a powerful account of a Vietnam veteran who recreated a traumatic experience through movement and storytelling, resulting in a significant improvement in his mental health.
- The veteran's therapist downgraded him from high to low suicide risk after participating in the program
- The story highlights the transformative power of arts programs for veterans
- Holden expresses how motivating and important such stories are
Robert Holden
1:24:02
Well, thank you both for the testimony.
1:24:04
It sounds exciting.
1:24:05
I just I'll ask the same thing I asked the the commissioner over the last panel.
1:24:11
Do you have some success stories where you saw the transformation so graphically, that that person jumps out, that you saw a complete change?
1:24:23
Roman, maybe you could you've you've probably seen it in your work.
Joe Bello
1:24:28
Absolutely.
Robert Holden
1:24:29
Yeah.
Roman Baca
1:24:30
We have worked for many years with, Vietnam era veteran who will tell you that in Vietnam, he experienced the worst day of his life, a rocket attack, where he was petrified with fear.
1:24:48
And he couldn't act as he was trained.
1:24:51
And that made him feel guilty for every day of his life past Vietnam.
1:24:59
Last year on The Intrepid, he decided to recreate that moment through movement and storytelling.
1:25:09
In the framework that we built working creatively and in the practice that we've created, we surrounded that veteran with support, with love.
1:25:20
And he was able to work with that until performance, his therapist downgraded him from high suicide risk to low.
1:25:43
Wow.
1:25:44
And it's one of the most inspirational stories I've experienced doing this work.
Robert Holden
1:25:49
Wow.
1:25:50
Well, I asked for it and I got it.
1:25:52
That's a very dramatic story.
1:25:54
And, see, that's why we're here.
1:25:56
And that's why this topic is so important.
