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Under The Same Sky
YDance
Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 June 2008
Tron Theatre (G1 5HB)
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‘YDance presents this contemporary dance theatre piece, performed by young people from across Glasgow, which explores what it means to be a ‘new Glaswegian’ in 2008. Experiences from the dancers’ journeys to Scotland and their new lives in the city are combined with dreams for the future in a performance full of passion, life and energy.’
Approximate Attendance: 239
Background
YDance (Scottish Youth Dance) is the National Youth Dance Agency for Scotland. As a leading provider of quality dance education, YDance encourages all young people to get active and develop their creativity through dance. In January 2008, YDance began the first stage of a three-year funded project following a successful bid to the LankellyChase Foundation, bringing together young refugees and asylum seekers with other young people from Glasgow in integrated dance sessions. A core group of young people worked together from February 2008 in weekly sessions, developing both their dance skills and elements of the performance. In addition, dance sessions were run in schools from April 2008, with all the young people joining together for their final performances at the Tron Theatre as part of Refugee Week.
Overview of Event
The dance performance, Under the Same Sky, was performed on the main stage at the Tron Theatre over two evenings as part of Refugee Week Scotland 2008. Approximately 47 young people took part from across the city, drawn from a core group of 7 young people, 20 pupils from three schools, and an additional 20 young people who participated in the project but were not directly involved with the performances. The show incorporated a short film by Glasgow Media Access Centre, Flight of the Sand Martin, in which young refugees spoke about their experiences of coming to Scotland, and both evenings closed with music and dancing from North Lanarkshire's Jambo Group - a Congolese Music Group made up of 10 young Congolese refugees aged between 12 and 22, who have settled in the Motherwell area.
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Arts Review - Mary Brennan, The Herald -
"Thanks to funding from the LankellyChase Foundation, this YDance project - bringing young refugees and asylum seekers together with Glasgow residents in integrated dance sessions - will continue for a further three years. I'm not often moved to put sponsors before performers in a review, but Under the Same Sky is so much more than a display of what's been achieved so far, jolly and uplifting though that is.
What really counts is the work that Andy Howitt and his YDance team are doing behind closed doors, as young Glaswegians from different cultures and backgrounds match their feet to the beat and discover the value of a shared groove. On stage that groove gets a good-going run around the block, with groups drawn from various parts of the city and from Drumchapel High School, St Roch's Secondary and St Paul's High.
There are some lovely movers, especially when the music takes a turn towards sassy fusion - cue Badmarch and Shri on the sound system - with Trishna Verdi and Nicola Rankin, two very impressive B-girls. Film footage of youngsters talking about their new lives in Scotland, and some fine live playing from the Congolese Music Group who now hail from Motherwell, accentuate the positive in a situation that is grim at heart.
Those of us with secure homes to go to head back to them reminded of how much we have to sing and dance about but so rarely do, and not with the unaffected gusto shown by these young people.
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In FOCUS: Mary and Trishna
Mary, from Kenya, and Trishna, from Partick, are great friends. They first met working together in Deichmann Shoes in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, although Trishna comments that "we've got to know each other even better through a dance project for Refugee Week." The girls have the same taste in music - R&B, hip hop - but their dance styles are very different. "We give each other ideas and our moves complement each other," Mary says. "Dance is a great way to connect with other people."
It is clear from the first moment you meet Mary and Trishna that theirs is a friendship for life. Mary found moving to the UK difficult, living in London before coming to Glasgow. It was only through finding a friend in Trishna, that she began to settle in: "When I first came here six years ago, my English was not good. But as I met and talked to other local people, it started to improve. I was shy when I first arrived, and quite lonely at first, but meeting Trishna gave me such confidence. Through her I met other friends, and suddenly I didn't feel so different after all." Equally, Trishna recognises the value of a friend like Mary: "Mary's really interesting. She's so funny … a good friend, really trustworthy and outgoing. When I got to know her, I didn't really know she was a refugee, she's got an English accent from living in London, so I just thought she was from there. People with negative attitudes should get to know refugees as people and not judge them."
Having taken part in Under the Same Sky, Mary and Trishna now want to take their dancing further, and dream about going to New York to "pick up some more moves." In the meantime, they will continue developing their dance skills with YDance's core group as part of this three-year project. Talking of home, Mary says: "I really miss Kenya, the weather mostly. When you wake up there, it's always sunny. You're always outside. Here you can't go out without checking the weather forecast. But I love Scotland and I want to stay here and make my future. I am hoping to become a sports therapist and work with one of the big football teams, maybe Celtic. And I hope to keep dancing." |
