At Risk Children Dance for Social Change

Once again, The Anita Villalaz theatre displayed the talent of our Enlaces students. The show was titled Reflections/Reflexes, based on the work of duets and mirror and manipulation technique that our children were elaborating since March.

The show featured two acts. The first piece started with a group of students from intermediate to advanced level, based on the preformer’s skills on stage, using the location's stronger points when developing a choreographic composition. By knowing strategic points on stage, the choreographer can be more effective in communicating an idea. Followed by this piece, the beginners level act was introduced by a solo from one of the intermediate level student. Next, a special group of ten students from the ‘Instituto de Nuestra Señora de la Merced’ (school where we teach contemporary dance once a week to 157 children from 4^th to 6^th grade), showed us a structured improvisation created in situ based on certain guidelines and commands previously established; this was their very first time on stage. At last, to conclude the first act, the intermediate and advanced levels delighted us with their own creation based on the study of some of the qualities of movement proposed by Rudolf Laban for dance, placed in context with the support of theater and usage of their voices.

The second act, "Retaking the flight" was a piece directed by Professor José Leonardo Amaya, where 10 students of all levels selected by audition, worked on one of the longest pieces that our program Enlaces has done and it showed an emerging level of maturity and appropriation of dance by our students. With music by L’Arpeggiata & Christina Pluhar, David Holmes, Javier Navarrete, M83 and a poem of Mario Benedetti, our children worked on the basis of crisis management, change adaptation and the synergy that is created as a group that is supported and in which individuality is reflected and evolves.

The word ‘Reflection’ has many meanings, Reflection as a refracted image, Reflection as a spontaneous and involuntary movement and Reflection as a spark, shine and energy that emanates from something wonderful and full of light. Reflections, and its various meanings, was the perfect name because it summarised the work done by Enlaces. Over the years, we have seen our children grow, mature and improve not only their artistic skills but also find their place in the world. They are a reflection of our dreams, fears and success. They made us look into the mirror of our humanity. With this Enlaces show we shared the one of most beautiful thing about being human, the satisfaction of a job well done.

Links:

• Reflection/Reflexes full photo album. Photos by Rafael Salazar.
• Reflection story by 'La Prensa' (Spanish)

When we started Enlaces (At Risk Children Dance for Social Change), our mission encompassed more than simply dance and theatre. We longed to be a light for our students, in order to guide them to a better economic and social situation.

That was five years ago. Enlaces was young and the coordinators dreamed of a program that could reach the fame of international projects of the same quality. This year, more than any other time, we have living, tangible proof of the real impact that this initiative can have.

This proof has a name: Juan.

A dedicated student, a hard worker, and a young man with unbreakable values, Juan has been with us from the start. With incredible talent and an insatiable hunger for success, this young boy from Santa Ana has become famous in circles outside of Calicanto. In 2012 he was selected to participate in the nationwide Panamanian show “Little Giants” and between 2012 and 2013 he participated in a series of learning workshops organized by Prisma Festival.

In 2013, he participated in a conference called Youth Creation for Peace, organized by DanzÁrea, where he placed third.

All these achievements culminated in a gold medal win at an international competition organized by Danza Activa in 2014, in the Solo – Youth category.

Juan has come very far from his beginnings in the program 5 years ago. In many ways, he is representative of our mission. He is a young man that lives in difficult conditions but that benefits from the unyielding support of a grandmother who has served as both father and mother to him and who has always encouraged him to follow his dreams, no matter the socioeconomic context.

From April 20th to 24th of this year, Juan traveled to Cartagena to participate in intensive workshops with the prestigious Compañía Periferia and El Colegio del Cuerpo (The School of the Body.) We cannot stress what a huge achievement this is for him and the program at large.

The latter institution provided us with the basic blueprint for Enlaces (with some minor changes.) At The School of the Body, the teachers prioritize the value of the students’ bodies, human dignity, emotional development, and the balance between the physical and the psychological. All these characteristics are of upmost importance in Calicanto.

You could say that Enlaces is a descendant of this academy. And like sea turtle offspring returning to the beach of their birth to lay their own eggs, the cycle that started in 2010 comes full circle.

Enlaces returns to Cartagena with one of our best students to recognize that, although Juan will keep advancing and growing, he has now become the kind of dancer that can hold his own in the company of professionals five or six years older, all within the walls of an internationally renowned academy.

But the connection is also personal. José Leonardo, an Enlaces teacher, comes directly from this school. His story is very similar to Juan, with slightly different but equally important challenges.

José Leonardo’s success is an example to his student and they both see themselves reflected in the other. They represent two different stages of one success story and we are sure that, given a few years, Juan will achieve his dreams in the same manner his teacher did.

Juan tells us that he wants to be an architect one day and wants to study abroad. He says that dance has been an outlet through which he’s been able to freely and fearlessly express his feelings and his identity, without fear of being judged.

The Foundation is proud of this young man. He represents a reality that, in a world full of cynicism and pessimism, is sometimes hard to accept: anything is possible if you follow your dreams, work hard, and leave fear behind.

If you want to help Juan with the costs of his recent trip and his dancing partner Raul with his upcoming travel arrangements, visit Help Juan and Raul Dance for a Future, our microproject under "At Risk Children Dance for Social Change."

*The names in this report have been changed to respect the privacy of our beneficiaries.