The 2007 Ellen Hansen Memorial Prize winner is Lauri Smith,
for her performance piece Gasping for BreaDth.
This piece is a one woman show that creatively
challenges dominant cultural paradigms related to women’s body image; including monoliths of media, fashion and patriarchy. Trough a daring blend of humor, passion, vulnerability andcourage, the audience is persuaded to acknowledge the sacrifices women make in order to measure up in today’s result-oriented, accomplishment-driven society. BreaDth, a work that is personal, political, feminist and provocative, deals with the politics of beauty and the body and of absence and presence of the self within academia and society at large. Ultimately, the one woman on stage confronts her culpability for the status quo; bravely embracing her self, her femininity and her humanity in front of and on behalf of her audience. In the end, Grasping for BreaDth dares the audience, stirred by palpable emotions and striking, unforgettable images, to do the same.