Survivors use music and dance to raise awareness at new installation of ‘Path to Precision’

Content warning: The following article contains mentions of sexual assault.

About 40 of Ann Arbor residents gathered at the CultureVerse Gallery Friday evening for “Path to Precision,” an event series dedicated to understanding mental health issues and health care concerns through various artistic mediums. The event, a collaboration with  NeuroArts Productions and Healing Bells, sought to uplift the voices of victims of sexual assault by drawing selections from “Ni Une Más,” a collection of songs, interpretative dance, poetry and stories by speakers who were either closely related to victims of sexual assault or victims themselves.

Tad Deluca, a former University of Michigan wrestler, shared his story as a victim of  University Athletics instead of Michigan Athletics Dr. Robert Anderson, who sexually assaulted more than 1,000 victims over multiple decades. Deluca told the audience that reporting his experience with Anderson to his coach led to negative consequences for him rather than accountability for Anderson. In a poem about the experience, Deluca said he was removed from the team after he spoke up about Anderson’s actions.

“You think they would do the right thing, that they would fire him,” Deluca said. “Instead what they did was cover up his awful scheme, took away my scholarship and kicked me off the team. A dream, a dream. What a nasty dream. I report a rape and he kicks me off the team.”

In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA and Music, Theatre & Dance senior Sasha Gusikhin, executive artistic director of NeuroArts Productions, said she disapproved of the University’s response to the Anderson allegations, criticizing decades of inaction.

“There’s neglect by the institution to actually address what had happened and it’s one of those things I mentioned at the very beginning of the performance,” Gusikhin said. “(The lack of) efforts (to address the issues) are genuinely pathetic in response to the actual strength of survivors, their stories and public power.”

U-M lecturer Pamela Ruiter-Feenstra, the artistic director for Healing Bells, told the audience survivors of trauma often require mental health support that prioritizes them as individuals.

“When we talk about first insider mental health and precision medicine, a really huge part of the process is to also talk about how trauma and lived experiences should be centered in the way that we actually prioritize the person in the medical system,” Ruiter-Feenstra said. “So this is not just looking at one unique thing…But it’s also bringing in lived experience and trauma as part of the process, which is so key in being able to truly find coping effects for individuals.”

LSA senior Ellie Omori-Sampson, who helped advertise the event, told The Daily it was extremely impactful to watch the show and said she looks forward to more events that blend real stories with music and art.

“Actual guests who had gone through these different lived experiences were very powerful because they were directly collaborating with the musical artists to put on these shows and to educate the public,” Omori-Sampson said. “We can look at NeuroArts Productions and Healing Bells to do more things like this. I think it really touches people when we have real people’s stories connected through music.” 

Omori-Sampson said events like this sometimes require enhanced security measures in order to ensure the safety of survivors. 

“I think in their very first performance last year, that was an iteration of ‘Ni Une Más,’ which is what people saw yesterday,” said Gusikhin. “There were some of the survivors who were a part of that process; they were continuing to receive threats from their perpetrators, which had them have to place additional security measures on the performance because they were working with (assault) survivors and some of these things were ongoing.”

LSA senior Giselle DeJongtold The Daily she appreciated the unique structure of the event. 

“I like (how it’s) inspiring and empowering because the topic of discussion feels really heavy, but the way they’re presenting it is really interesting, creative, something different,” DeJong said. “You wouldn’t see this being done in like LSA, (School of) Engineering or anything like that. It’s a very creative event.”

Daily Staff Reporter Vincent Siquig can be reached at siquig@umich.edu.

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