I’ve been street performing on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder for almost 20 years. Another performer, Ibash-I (pronounced ee-BAH-shee), the contortionist I’ve been performing alongside for about 15 years, is being threatened with deportation from the United States. The following story is about why I support Ibash-I in his fight against deportation.
When I first began street performing back in 1985, doing a juggling and unicycling show in the New Orleans French Quarter, I was inspired by some of the other performers, such as jugglers and magicians. One of those performers was a contortionist — a 6-foot-tall skinny black man with dreadlocks.This performer would sit on a rug with his legs stretched out to both sides with his chest and chin resting on the ground. He would sit in this position motionless as a curious crowd gathered in a circle around him. He would begin by shaking his head side to side and, after moments of silence, would talk to his growing audience in a Caribbean accent.
“Hello,I’d like to introduce myself,”he would say.“My name is Ibash-I,and I come from a small island in the Caribbean called St.Kitts,better known as St.Christopher,and to make a long story short I’m going to perform a variety of postures.”
Then he would strike and hold a myriad of amazing postures — contortions with his body that are better demonstrated with photos than explained with words.
After performing several postures,he would explain how he was able to do what he does by talking about his lifestyle,saying,“I live on a diet of fresh fruits, fresh vegetables,raw nuts, pure water,constant practice and sufficient rest.”
He would conclude his show by fitting himself into a small plastic box and joking that he likes to get sent back home to the Caribbean in his box, C.O.D. He would then invite the audience to put money into his bucket.
What I found intriguing about Ibash-I was that unlike most street performers, who grabbed an audience’s attention using loud music, yelling or fire, Ibash-I used an overwhelming stillness when he was stretched out on his rug and was just as effective as the other successful crowd gatherers. Another subtle but powerful quality of his show was the way he charmed his audience not just with words — jokes about his postures — but with quiet gestures, like waving to people with his foot, which was behind his ear, or when he signaled for people to applaud by clapping his hands, which were against his upper back. I saw that to be successful as a street performer it wasn’t necessary to be overly aggressive.
What was inspiring for me as a beginning street performer trying to find my niche in entertainment was that even though Ibash-I was performing, he wasn’t pretending. His show was an expression of a way of life that went on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was a way to introduce people to this lifestyle, which is about living close to nature and a devotion to something beyond what could be totally seen or understood.
In 1991, I moved to Boulder, where I started performing on the Pearl Street Mall. After I had been performing on Pearl Street for about three years, Ibash-I also moved to Boulder, where he and I shared the same performing space. Sharing the space with Ibash-I was very easy because he had a relatively short show, and near the end of his show he always introduced me, saying,“And after my show, stick around, because David will be next.”The crowd would alternate between the two of us indefinitely.
But business on the Pearl Street Mall didn’t always go so smoothly. Sometimes, there were so many performers in a limited space that it would be hard to do a lot of shows. During these times, Ibash-I would sometimes get impatient about waiting for other performers before he could do a show, since his show was only 15 minutes long, while some of the other performers went on for 45 minutes to an hour. Most performers, including myself, have gotten into a conflict with Ibash-I over performing space, but these conflicts, as intimidating as they seemed, never resulted in violence, as Ibash-I was like a dog that had a nasty bark but never bit anyone. In fact, when he does his show and he wants his audience to move closer, he tells them,“Move up. You don’t have to be afraid of me, I’m a vegetarian.”
The
main problem that Ibash-I complained about when he was on the Pearl
Street Mall was that some performers would not respect the audience.
These performers gathered crowds by insulting or teasing the audience.
They insulted people who were walking by or spent a lot of time talking
about a trick they were going to do before actually doing the trick.
Ibash-I
told them directly and very “in their face” that they were not
performing genuinely, and he would openly and bluntly criticize them,
saying, “All you do is insult people. That’s not entertainment.” Or, “If
you have something to give, then give it. Stop bullshitting.”
It
is unusual for someone, especially in this culture, to be outspoken
about how they feel because it’s not easy to say something that might
sound unpopular, politically incorrect or just plain mean. But then
again, Ibash-I comes from a different background.
Growing
up on the tropical island of St. Kitts, he lived among animals such as
monkeys and deer. Spending time with them as a little kid, he absorbed
the way they lived, how they moved, and how they got still and
comfortable. It was through spending time with the animals that he began
what was to become a lifelong training in the art form he calls Rasta
Yoga. He would practice putting his naturally flexible body into various
postures based on his observations of the animals.
As
a teenager, Ibash-I performed his contortions at shows around St. Kitts
for various events. After a couple of years of this, the government of
St. Kitts recognized Ibash-I and included him as part of a team of
performers who represented St. Kitts during cultural exchange events
that took place throughout the Caribbean islands. Ibash-I traveled and
performed all over the Caribbean for several years. When he was on tour
he met an American woman, another performer, and the two of them
traveled to the United States. There, Ibash-I began street performing
and came to New Orleans, where I first met him.
Back
on the island, when living with the animals, Ibash-I developed another
gift in addition to being a contortionist, which he calls the gift of
feeling.
“You can’t
always believe what you see because your eyes can deceive you,” he
says. “And, you can’t always trust what you hear or what you read
because words can fool you. But your feelings don’t lie, and if you can
feel, you can connect with and see a bigger and truer picture.”
He
applies this to street performing, saying, “The bigger picture is that
when performers put on shows where the audience is spending more time
waiting for something to happen than exclaiming, ‘Wow!’ the audience
will not stick around for the next show. You can’t have a show without
an audience, and if the audience is disrespected, there are
consequences.”
Ibash-I
applies his idea about how being in touch with feelings leads to a
bigger perspective, to life beyond the Pearl Street Mall.
“Similarly,
people cannot disrespect the Earth that sustains them without feeling
the effects somewhere down the road with pollution, bad health, wars,
poverty, etc.,” he says. “If you take care of the Earth, the Earth will
take care of you. If we develop a relationship with the Earth instead of
trying to manipulate and control it, we would all be much better off.”
What
Ibash-I is saying sounds similar to what environmentalists are saying
about living in harmony with the Earth. However, Ibash-I has a point of
view that is very different — one that he acquired growing up with the
animals. According to Ibash-I, the most important thing for having a
relationship with the Earth is to be in touch with how you feel. The
next important thing is to express what you feel, even if it’s a
negative emotion like anger. By expressing how you feel, you allow your
emotions to pass through your mind and body instead of getting stuck,
and also you communicate to others how you feel, building better
connections with other people and to the Earth they inhabit.
Back
to the Pearl Street Mall. It was always a good feeling when Ibash-I did
a show and his audience would stay around afterward to see other shows,
including mine. I was glad he was performing on the mall. But he might
not be on the mall much longer because of some incidents with law
enforcement.
• • • • •
In
2007, Ibash-I was driving from Denver to Boulder when he was pulled
over by the police, possibly because he looked suspicious. The police
searched his car and found two marijuana joints and gave Ibash-I a
ticket for possession of marijuana.
Later,
in 2008, Ibash-I was near the Pearl Street Mall where he was caught by a
police officer buying a small bag of marijuana from a guy. Ibash-I told
the officer that marijuana is part of his lifestyle and culture and
that he should have the right to use it. The officer then gave him a
ticket, and the judge sentenced Ibash-I to do community service.
Ibash-I
telling the police officer that he should have the right to pursue his
lifestyle might sound like a rebellious teenager saying to an authority
figure, “Leave me alone, I can smoke pot if I want.” But this was not
the case. Ibash-I, no matter what the circumstance, expresses how he
feels and hasn’t been brought up to say, ‘Yes sir,’ even though he
didn’t mean any disrespect toward the officer. But there is more to it
than that.
Ibash-I
explains that the Earth provides medicines for assisting people in
getting in touch with how they feel. One of those medicines, the one
that Ibash-I prefers, is marijuana, which for him is not used for merely
getting stoned or high. He was expressing to the officer what he feels
is his right to pursue his lifestyle of being in touch with his
feelings.
The
problem Ibash-I had with the marijuana law became trouble when, in 2009,
he was returning to the United States from a visit to St. Kitts, and
the plane stopped in Puerto Rico, where a customs official saw his
record, which showed up on a computer screen. The record listed these
marijuana incidents, and the immigration authorities took away his green
card and are now threatening to deport him. His trial is scheduled for
Sept. 30.
If
Ibash-I gets deported, it would be a hassle not just for him. He is
rooted in the community of Boulder, not just as a performer, but also
because he has five kids, four of whom are in Colorado. He supports his
kids through his performances on the mall.
In
order to be closer to his kids, he chooses to stay in Boulder during
the winter off-season, instead of migrating to warmer climates like most
full-time street performers do. I sometimes see him on a cold winter
day on the mall shoveling snow to make a space to perform. Even when it
looks impossible to draw a crowd, as tourists are not abundant, he
sometimes miraculously pulls off a show. Watching him perform through
the winter, I am reminded to keep persisting, keep trying, even at times
when it all looks hopeless.
During
the challenging off-season times, Ibash-I never loses his sense of
humor. Once as I was walking by on a dreary winter day on the mall, I
asked him, “What’s going on, Ibash-I?” He said, “Doing what I do best.”
To which I replied, “What’s that? Smoking dope?” And he laughed, a
unique kind of laugh with his jaw hanging open.
Another
challenging time might come on Sept. 30, when a judge will determine
whether he will stay in America or be deported back to St. Kitts. This
trial, to Ibash-I, is about more than just whether he will be deported,
as it has to do with our relationship with the Earth. Ibash-I says
people are primarily Citizens of the Earth and should have the right to
exist wherever they happen to be. And that like animals who migrate
according to season and situation, people should simply be allowed to
let the connection with the Earth influence where and how they live.
I
don’t know whether Ibash-I’s idea that many of our problems can be
solved by having a better connection with the Earth can apply in all
situations, as if it’s all that simple. What I’m also uncertain about is
the outcome of his trial, as I don’t know if Ibash-I’s lawyer will have
more compelling reasons for him to stay in America than the prosecutor
will have for having him deported, or whether the judge will be generous
with Ibash-I, his kids and the community.
But what I am sure of is this: Whatever the outcome of the trial, Ibash-I will always persist and will always be an inspiration.
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
