What does my voice look like? | Omer Stier | TEDxTelAvivUniversity

Do you know what your voice looks like? Would it look choreographed into dance moves? This physical spoken word testimony written by Omer Stier and performed by his own dance troupe, Anewindow Dance Company, is about how it's getting so hard to find our voices in society today. Through dance, Omer has let us in so we can connect vision, sound, and words for just a couple of minutes in order to experience his personal endeavors and wake ourselves up just enough to actually see his voice.

Omer Stier is one of Israels most noted choreographers. Omer has toured Europe and Israel with his dance troupe, Anewindow Dance Company. He has choreographed and staged shows for a variety of artists, dance festivals and international dance shows in Israel. For 16 years, he has been mentoring and growing generations of dancers, dance teachers, and choreographers in his own dance studio, Dancity Dance Studios.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Have you ever wondered
what the sound of your voice looks like?

Huh, I bet you're wondering

why this guy is wondering
what the sound of his voice looks like.

It's just ... mute.

Sorry, moot point.

I mean, voice can't be seen,
can hardly be heard.

Every time I'm talking,

you start listening to yourself,
you start tuning me out.

Are you even here?

Are you hearing me?

Are you listening to me?

Sometimes, it's like
I've got nothing to say, right?

Everybody knows how this feels.

It's like trying to make
something out of nothing

just for the purpose of justifying myself,

but even then ...

I just don't see it.

I could be mad, glad, happy, or sad.

That wouldn't make
an ounce of a difference.

Your ignorance, making me restless

and thinking it's best
just to turn around,

walk away, have a great day,

but you won't hear, feel,
or see that anyway, so,

I'm lost.

And yeah, I've got a question.

What does my voice look like?

What does my voice look like?

A kid grows up learning how to walk,
learning how to act, learning how to talk,

only never to be seen,
only maybe to be heard,

only to have half of his ideas
be shared into the world.

And he gets lost even more
between social media,

schools with no voice.

Voice becomes type and seen,

looking like words and letters on a page,
in a screen, in a phone.

He either has to join all of that,
or he'd be left alone.

No other choices
and all these other voices,

but I'm still looking for mine.

What does mine look like?

Humph, and that kid ...

that kid grew up to be me.

With support from all my family,

I learned to see my voice in the physical,

in the lyrical,
in the true meaning of it all.

And my voice ...

my voice looks like this:

movements that come from my mind
to these footprints,

to these dancers, these artists,

to these stages, and these crowds,

to all these people who never listen
or see us or care, but cheer so loud,

who know not to listen,
not to give half a chance.

I'm one of the lucky ones.

I could put this all in a dance,

put this all in the moves!

The music that my voice
is making right now,

can you see how I'm being seen right now?

Finally, my idea is getting through.

I got you stopped for a split second
and control your view.

Your thoughts, your attention is mine.

And all I can hope for
is that you open your mind

and try to understand one thing:

we have just been trying

not only to be heard

but also to be seen.

(Applause)