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Tarrytown resident Elyssa Feldman-Most and Sleepy Hollow resident Jane Dubin are leading a Hudson River Rising movement to rise up and dance against violence during the 15th annual V-Day on Feb. 14.
“The 1 billion represents the 1 billion women and girls who will be raped, abused, violated in their lifetime out of the three billion women on the planet,” Feldman-Most said. “We're women coming together here in Tarrytown trying to get as many people as possible to stand up, stop what they're doing, rise, dance, unite to say we're not going to take it anymore.”
The idea is to have smaller groups gather in the afternoon at different locations along Route 9 in Tarrytown, where they'll begin a choreographed dance toward a central location on V-Day. Event organizers are also planning a fundraiser for Hope's Door on Feb. 9.
The group formed after a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" in Hastings last year. That benefit raised about $20,000 for Hope's Door and allowed them to build a new facility in Ossining, Dubin said. This year's benefit will feature a DJ, auction, prizes and raffle.
“We'll have a couple people performing and just have a roaring good time,” Dubin said.
The group has already started planning for V-Day, but hopes residents will help spread the word so that a lot of people will participate. Information on the event can be found on the Hudson River Rising Facebook page.
Dubin and Feldman-Most note they've also been contacted by regional and global groups who will be participating in the One Billion Rising movement — showing that this really is a huge movement.
“It seems so little because we're just doing in the village, but really the scope of it is tremendous,” Feldman-Most said, adding “It's bringing all these people together. It's amazing and it's powerful.”
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