Our Footsteps
Migrants’ narratives as an artistic affirmation of our human dignity and a call for political awareness
More than 20 migrants/refugees artists or performers in 10 languages. The result of 5 months of playful improvisational rehearsals, where through self-representation, migrants share stories of their journey and living in the Netherlands facing a long-lasting uncertainty after having crossed many, colonial, borders.
So far Our Footsteps has been successfully performed 10 times in Theater Perdu, in Academie voor Theater en Dans, in Ru Paré, in Podium Mozaïek in Amsterdam, In Museum for Antiquities Leiden and in other locations. All dates were sold out as a confirmation of the urgency of this kind of theatre.
We believe the arts need to engage society; they need to represent today’s turmoil. Moreover, we acknowledge the cathartic function of the arts, and we are aware of the arts’ potential as a means of raising awareness. Words, sounds, images need to transcend the fixity of our every day and provoke the audience into rising above the level of the given to that of the possible. Through this process, the uselessness of borders is made evident, giving way to the human necessity found in peaceful coexistence.
To this end we come together as migrants, political refugees and locals in order to create a performance: an act of theatre, poetry, music, performance art, choreography. And an act of activism, of human and political togetherness. Although most of the participants are not professional artists, their performance attains the level of full artistic dignity. It’s time to stop seeing the migrant as ‘problematic’ or ‘troublesome.’ It’s time to go beyond the politics of social segregation as a mass distraction.
Our performance seeks to transcend the political pitfalls of discrimination and hate peculiar to our present and confused world. We want our performance to be a safe haven, a place where diversity is richness and discrimination can only vanish.
Testimonials:
Maria Mavridou (dancer, choreographer): “You were all wonderful!! Very touched to be there”
Tenedle Dimitri Niccolai (composer, musician): “What a beautiful performance, rhythm, and emotions in perfect harmony, excellent choreography and acting for a very strong important message”
Herman Pieterson: “It was amazing. Great performance, beautiful scenes just using patterns of movements by the whole cast”
A project by AstaroTheatro, IIRE and Stichting Vrolijkheid
With the support of Academie voor Theater en Dans
Our Footsteps Collective
At the moment Our Footsteps Collective is an on-going project, a work in progress constantly reshaping itself to the artistic and social challenges of our times. We are willing of going beyond the “theatre of refugees” and of exploring our world of here and now as human beings and artists.
We are currently working at creating a new theatre performance for Week tegen Racisme 2021. We keep creating theatre contents waiting for the moment when we will be able to perform again in venues inside and outside the Netherlands. We are fully aware that theatre is the art of total physical presence with an emancipatory power for both the artists and the audience.
Contact: AstaroTheatro. Sint Jansstraat 37 Amsterdam.
AstaroTheatro Tel. 06 25382491 Email: info@ourfootsteps.nl