Remembering through movement

“Out of the Ashes,” a one-man show created by Oakland University Associate Professor Thayer Jonutz, explores healing through art.

“It’s meaningful that I’m able to heal from tragedy, from loss, like the loss of my father, loss of my mother's health, loss of my past identity as COVID just disheveled everything,” Jonutz said. “I feel like it’s a powerful inspiration for all those who witness it.”

Jonutz invited students and faculty to a private viewing. 

“I went through a lot of different emotions,” Sanibel Stack, a freshman dance major, said. “It had me laughing, it almost had me crying, it just was a full experience.”

The performance began with Jonutz describing events involving his father and uncles, then moved on to his mother aging, his own children and the events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attack in Grand Blanc, Michigan.

“For me, it means telling my story, mixing many different disciplines: spoken word, acting, music technology, dance — not only just dance, but cultural dance from my heritage — together to tell that story,” Jonutz said.

Through his art, Jonutz processes, memorializes and honors the tragic events, incorporating them into his choreography.

“You never really knew what he was going to do next, which is how every person’s life is different,” Stack said.

When Jonutz’s father passed, he performed the first section of Out of the Ashes at his father’s memorial of life, bringing together those who were part of the story to grieve and remember him. 

“My uncles came up to me afterward, and they’re like, ‘We feel so validated right now,’ ” Jonutz said. “You managed to take something so non-artistic … and you turned a whole piece of artwork out of it.”

The LDS church attack became another event Jonutz felt compelled to preserve through his art. 

“That really spoke to me and caused me to create the essence of this show; I felt very impelled to communicate that, to honor and preserve that event in my own way,” Jonutz said.

For Jonutz, the performance is not only a way to process his own experiences, but also an example of how others can use art to express what they carry within themselves.

“I hope that they’re inspired, that they can see a living example of meaningful art, something that takes a lot of courage and that if they have something deep inside that they want to express that they'll have the courage to realize it via art,” Jonutz said.