(gentle music) (mellow New Age music) - [Brianne] Whether art imitates life, or life imitates art, the connection between the two is undeniable.

Art serves as the lens of universal emotion, a glimpse of the soul, a voice for the voiceless, a movement to push and break societal norms, a form of protest, a symbol of truth, a memorial, a story, a connection, or simply just a good feeling.

Art is the multifaceted, varied mirror through which society is reflected.

So, considering art in our modern society, what is democracy from an artist's point of view?

What is the heart of democracy?

(heart beating) (car horn honking) - When I hear the term democracy, I think about like power of the people, and our voices, and just like using our voices to create change.

I feel like democracy and having the freedom of thought and freedom of expression plays a big role in how I create.

I love fashion, art, music.

I've always been a creative person.

I like to write.

I write songs.

I write in my journal.

I write letters.

I love to just have a pen and paper in hand.

(mellow R&B music) ♪ It's all right ♪ I'd rather be with you tonight ♪ ♪ We can vibe ♪ We can talk all night ♪ We can do our own thing for real ♪ ♪ You wanna get to know me ♪ But I feel like I already know you ♪ ♪ I'm not impressed with what these other people do ♪ ♪ I just want you, the real you ♪ ♪ Is it yes or no - Every country has their own idea, and every country they try to say this is democracy.

In Cuba, they say that they have a democracy.

So we are in America.

We have a democracy.

So, but this is the democracy of the whole entire world, or this is our democracy?

And it can change too.

It change all the time.

I'm an artist, and I've always been an artist.

I combine different media, different style.

So I can do image.

I can do pictures.

I do street art.

I do performance.

I can whatever I want, have that freedom.

When I was in Cuba, it was totally different.

It was more political, my art, and then when I moved to the United States, you feel like empty 'cause you don't have any reason to fight.

It's better to work in a place that you have total freedom of expression.

But do we have that?

I don't know.

- This universal language of dance has such a unique, special, divine way of allowing us to express without ever being bound by a language of words.

Even in a theater, I always liked the idea of we're all having an experience together, and there isn't a separation between performer and audience, but rather we're all here in this time and space, and what can we all create?

(gentle soft rock music) There's something specific in particular for me about the art form that is dance and the way that we dance with our lives.

The central theme is really storytelling and creating a space where we can delve into our own stories.

Not the stories we've been told about ourselves, but rather the one that is deep within us that wants to emerge, where people could come in, makes me emotional, come into that story of their own and discover it time and time again.

So coming back to democracy, it's allowing each story to be its own and allow each story to be expressed in its unique form.

- When I dance, and when I move, I feel that it changes things, and movement creates change.

And so as a dancer and as a teacher, that happens then all the time.

And it is this equation of dancing, change, more movement, more dancing, and then more change.

So, as an artist, I feel that when I'm dancing and I'm expressing, there is this constant igniting of shifts, whether it's very small or very big.

(birds chirping) - I think like a boy who was born in a small town in Turkey and can do like things that I am doing today.

I am so empowered with the technology, and I can understand this.

I can run through this.

I think that was the biggest thing in terms of what does that mean, democracy?

Like yeah, I can do anything I want.

I'm working remotely, and I can be working with people from India.

I can be working with people from California and New York, and I think these are like enabling me to do things that people haven't seen before.

I think AI becoming the hot new thing.

Definitely like I'm one of the first early adopters I would say.

I've been really interested in technology.

I think that's sort of like what peaked me into what I'm doing today, and I'm mostly looking for finding creative ways to embed technology in people's life.

(mellow electric guitar music) (upbeat rock music) - Usually I don't show emotion off stage, but on stage it like switch on.

Drums, I express more anger and passion and emotion.

Art is opposite.

It's the more like quiet side, so more like meditate.

In Japan, it's democracy also, but it's not freedom to express myself.

Female playing the drums, rock, is kind of strange.

In Japan, it is more like pretend, like more pretend not emotion, but in here it's whatever I want.

So, I feel home here.

I feel comfortable here.

- Music and movement have always been a part of me.

In my artistry, I find it opening of the walls, like the walls start crumbling down when I am fully in my artistry.

(mellow jazz music) The world of true democracy, every voice is important.

Every voice matters.

No matter who that voice is coming from, that voice should be heard.

My voice matters.

(gentle cello music) - I live with a great palette of creative access personally that always speaks to the need for freedom, the existence of freedom.

And then about 15 years ago, I learned that human trafficking, also known as modern day slavery, is a big deal.

And I found a way to work with survivors by bringing the arts to them.

The name of my organization is Crossing Point Arts because everyone who's enslaved in any capacity has a border to cross.

There's nothing more specific to someone who's been enslaved than the fact that their voices are useless to them.

In fact, their voices become their destruction if they're used.

So art in any of its form is the access back into the human community.

I'm creating through this environment with survivors the democracy I choose to live in.

If anybody's left out, it's not working.

(gentle cello music continues) - We choose what we wanna say.

We have the possibility we can do the art that we wanna do.

You know, there there's no restriction.

We can only be aware of how our words can impact anybody, but other than that we have the absolute freedom to say what we want.

- I think something that we appreciate is using art as a tool to connect with people, to say something, to inspire, which is my dream of democracy.

But regardless of our individual beliefs, we can all come together and have that conversation.

And it doesn't matter if I'm in English, and you're in Spanish.

Or you grew up in Baltimore.

I grew up in New York.

You grew up in Spain.

- A lot of our songs are very similar.

You know, we wanna talk about love and a lot of the similar things that you're talkin' about.

Democracy, you know, unity, justice, equality, right?

The power to the people.

And that's why I love the message about that we'll find a way.

It wasn't talkin' about the three of us.

We're talkin' about humanity will work together and find a way to make the world a better place, right?

♪ Maybe today ♪ Oh oh ah ah ♪ We'll find a way ♪ Ah ah oh oh ah ah ♪ Maybe today ♪ Uh oh oh oh ah oh ♪ We'll find a way - [Brianne] How does your art play into HLF?

- It's like identical.

The synergies are so, all of our songs that we've done together, every, it's like the same exact message of the Holistic Life Foundation.

- I think a quest for answers and truth was what made us decide to start the Holistic Life Foundation because we kept readin' all the stuff about the answers are within you, but we weren't, that didn't really mean anything to us.

But I think yoga, meditation, breath work, all those contemplative practices were the platform we figured we could find some of those answers.

- We were livin' in one of the most violent neighborhoods in Baltimore in the epicenter of where the Freddie Gray uprising happened.

So it was a lot of chaos goin' on outside, a lot of shootings, open-end drug markets, whole blocks that were vacant.

So, it really looked like a third world country in the neighborhood that we were in.

And you know, we were really deep into our practice, and you know, even amongst all this chaos, we kind of saw that we still had inner peace, and we were still blissin' out.

So, we had to share it with others.

- [Instructor] Deep breath, slowly put your leg up.

Focus on one spot.

Take your time, If you fall down, just jump right back into your routine.

It's not a competition.

- It's about oneness.

It's about unity.

It's about love, compassion, understanding.

It's about, you know, reminding people to love themselves and then to see themselves and others and to treat them just like you're saying, with respect, the way you wanna be treated.

- [Brianne] Ever changing and constantly expanding, the heart of democracy beats within us, individually and collectively, together as one, a symphony of sound, an ocean of movement, vast yet distinct like our art forms and expressions.

So, what is the heart of democracy?

(heart beating) - When you think about democracy, you think about it being about people and people that are all very different.

And when we're dancing, what that does is it adds this union even with all the differences.

And it's really special and feels like that's my tool, or that's my mode of being able to support a democratic experience because it surpasses the tension of differences.

It instead brings us more into a united feeling.

What I can say is how much of a honor and a literal freedom it is to be able to dance here and to be able to teach people and not be met with a boundary.

It's like such a gift.

(gentle guitar music) - I think the elements of equality and collaboration and freedom of expression, like they play a huge role in me creating, especially as me being like a Black woman in America.

Historically our forms of art were censored or attempted to be repressed.

Like they saw jazz as devil music, and they saw hip hop as a negative.

And because of democracy, because people kept going and expressing themselves, now I'm in a position where I can create very easily and share it with no issues.

So, it's a privilege.

The way that I create art, another thing that's gonna go hand in hand with it is technology, like AI.

I like that now I can think of something, and type it in, and have a reference to show somebody.

Like, okay, this is the type of image that I wanna go with my music.

Like how can we turn this into a music video, or how can we make this good looking cover art?

So, I think democracy in the future and technology are gonna go hand in hand with the creation of art.

(mellow jazz music) - Technology flattens the field for a lot of people.

What I can say for AI, if you think about where we're coming from, we worked for kings.

There was slavery.

There was working in factories, assembly lines.

And I think now we are getting in a place like you can hire people from all over the world.

You can bring internationals here.

What if you can create your workers that can do certain tasks for you?

Anybody can do this.

I think when I think about democratization and AI, that's sort of what I see.

The small businesses, the artists, the creators that they will have the tools in their hands, and the quality will improve.

That doesn't mean that humans are going away.

- Yeah, the idea of this kind of painting that I'm doing, I wanted that you see that this comes from the computer.

Like from far away, when you see it, you're like, is that a printing?

Is that a digital painting?

You know and then when you get close, like you see that it's actually paint.

So, that's why sometimes I have some of these little irregularities, and then that's okay for me.

It can be beautiful.

In my painting, if you look, who made that?

Is it a woman, or is it a man?

Do you see my country in my painting?

Do you see my sexuality in my painting?

And I have a country, and I have a sexuality, but it's not there.

Art for me is like on another level, and it's eternal.

We're not.

And our reality gonna disappear tomorrow, but the art gonna stay.

(gentle music) - I'm a producer of a film called "Men Who Dance."

It's a documentary that follows six choreographers and dancers who prepare a performance for a festival called Men Who Dance.

Abbas Motlagh, the director, had this vision to say, let's show their total humanity, which is of course what got him run out of Iran.

And it's our determination to show each person's presence is crucial.

(mellow cello music) - I'm emotional because like I've like, I move in a space that is, um.

It's feminine.

It's masculine.

It's just who I am.

And me being an openly gay man, I've grown up with all kinds of like negative reactions to me.

Like being able to be this free in my body in a space that, you know, that might not have the same democracy as here.

I immediately got like really, really A.

Scared, B.

Sad, and also very grateful that I'm able to have this body and move the way that I can.

I am able to just be free and fluid and genderless in my movement.

- Music doesn't need to speak so much word, and I am not talkative off the stage, but I can talk on the stage.

(mellow drum music) - [Kristin] Two forces of life, dance and music.

They have innately nourished, empowered, connected, uplifted, released, propelled, and encouraged humanity since the beginning of time.

Moving by way of connecting to oneself, to the music, to the dance floor, and to the energy around us, it is a magnanimous and a magnetic experience.

It happens on stages, at receptions, anniversary celebrations, clubs, kitchen floors, reunions, block parties, classrooms, backyards.

It happens every day all over the world.

(Miguel singing in a foreign language) - And I wrote it for me individually, right, saying that without an effort there's not gonna be a reward, right?

And that I was speaking from a personal point of view, but if you bring it to a society also, like if we don't make an effort collectively, there's no way we're gonna get to the goal that we need.

So, it's important for everybody to understand that we're not alone.

- Which is also a really good point because I do feel like artistry and being an artist, like, there is something to say for the fact that it's through the art form, which can be received by anyone and everyone, you can put a message like that.

- The power's with the people in my mind.

I think that really is.

Like even in some of the stuff I was saying is.

♪ It could be today ♪ We gonna lead the way ♪ Where the CD plays ♪ Wrote and defeat the hate ♪ If you could read your fate ♪ Would you abbreviate ♪ Or increase the length ♪ Would you agree to change ♪ Are you free or chained ♪ All you needs a change ♪ Just release your pain ♪ So all of you remains ♪ Maybe we could be love ♪ No more, you and me ♪ We could be us Right, it's on us to do it, where we shouldn't be depending on others to do this.

We have to be, the people have to be the one that's gonna make the difference.

- The human experience is not an easy thing to go through, particularly if you have no tools to deal with the internal things that are goin' on and the external bombardment too.

- So, it's all about, you know, helpin' people, puttin' smiles on people's faces, stayin' physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually strong and equipped, and advancing society while you're here.

- Art in general is a way for people to speak from their souls, to make this impact that can really transform people.

Make that paradigm shift in the world.

- You know, it's relevant to remind yourself that it, you know, we are all together.

Our freedom ends where the next one begins, and that's very important for film, for music, for our way of being.

If there's no respect between all of us, there's no way for us to advance and to be a society.

- Equality for me is about treating someone as you would like to be treated.

Everybody is equal, but the action of that is coexistence because it's this idea that we can all live together in this open space where we can be who we wanna be and express how we wanna express.

- I think that at the heart of democracy, it's kindness.

That it's just simply seeing each other and saying, hi, let's do this together.

Like even within the resistance, let's at least meet.

Let's meet maybe in the middle and hopefully maybe meet with music around us, and we dance.

(mellow soft rock music) - Most important is freedom.

Freedom being who I am.

- You as an artist, you always are free, even when you are in jail.

So, these people that they live in freedom, and they don't have the freedom to create because sometimes they censor themself.

I think it's important to have clear, if you are an artist, reality gonna change every day.

Don't ever think that you're not gonna be able to work without freedom or without democracy.

We have to defend freedom and democracy that we have.

We have to embrace, but we are an artist so we always wanna find a way to express ourself.

(gentle soft rock music) - The heart of democracy lives in this sense of inner freedom to create from the soul and from my perspective, art is the only thing that guarantees that channel will open, and it's the thing that allows us, in the words of one of the survivors that I mentored, she says, "I keep discovering myself through my art."

- Everybody has a voice, and the heart of democracy is like when we use our voices.

It's how we make a better world.

As long as we keep like living in our purpose and creating for our purpose, we're making the world more beautiful and colorful and cool.

(chuckling) - The heart of democracy, it's storytelling, and it's infinite conversations.

Allowing them to emerge and shift and alchemize and yeah, it's the listening.

It's the empathy, and then it's the movement, which happens by way of the dance floor time and time again.

I wanna hold firmly to a vision of possibility that we can all dance.

- I think the heart of democracy is expression, especially when it comes to arts or creative people.

Mostly what we try to do is express something that is stuck in ourselves.

I'm excited.

In my opinion, we are going through a really interesting, evolving phase of our lives.

I think it's going to be really interesting when we look back to these years and like realize that we were part of this.

- How am I being an example of this new way that we as a people are leaning towards and showing people that it's okay to be kind, to have integrity?

It's okay to change your practices.

It's okay.

We as human beings have an opportunity right now to do things differently.

- [Brianne] In its varied form, with its beauty and its flaws, what is the heart of democracy?

Freedom, expression, equality, liberty, respect, kindness, coexistence, empathy, storytelling, and love.

It's what we create and what we choose.

The power is in the people.

♪ Maybe today with hearts as one ♪ ♪ We can overcome ♪ We can overcome ♪ Maybe today with hearts as one ♪ ♪ We can overcome ♪ We can overcome ♪ Ah ah oh oh oh ♪ Maybe today ♪ Ah oh oh ah ah ♪ We'll find a way ♪ Ah oh oh oh oh ♪ Maybe today ♪ Ah oh oh oh ♪ We'll find a way