Every performance is unique

Auroville is a place of experimentation where the new can emerge and ‘something else’ can flourish. On January 19 and 20, in CRIPA, 70 children from Auroville schools, including Deepam school for children with disabilities and Auroville outreach schools, performed a one-of-a-kind co-creation titled ‘Every Soul is Unique’. Fakeera, who created and led the experiment, introduced the evening by saying, “It’s not about performance or theatre. You will see a perfect imperfection on stage today. You will love it.”

There were multiple dimensions to appreciate about the evening: uplifting content, inclusive participation and participants, acting and musical skills, and the way each group offering ended with a song, accompanied by talented musicians. The themes were unexpectedly uplifting and real at the same time, focusing on shame in the classroom, love – as communicated through sign language -- gender on the football pitch, inclusion and exclusion, treating people kindly even if their social status is different from yours, health, and the pace of nature. Simple universal truths were expressed through children’s eyes and words: we are unique souls; we are all pretty and ugly; whilst we all can be kind and rude, we are all the same; we don’t need our shame; and we can simply allow everybody to be as they are.

The show was the culmination of a rich journey by the children together with facilitators from various backgrounds. Over the first few months of preparation, the children chose their own groups and explored topics they wanted to present to each other. “The kids were having a lot of fun. Everything and anything was allowed to be created. Nobody was saying this is wrong, good or bad,” Fakeera explained, noting that the children themselves decided on their individual characters and “felt an ownership of their creation.” Fakeera described how “the children started writing their own stories. We helped them refine their own stories, but they chose everything, which character and how many lines they had.”

Fakeera and the other facilitators observed a range of dynamics as they and the children all worked together. “There was racism, there was ‘I am not good enough’, ‘I don’t think I can do this’, ‘I am better than you’. We crossed a few rivers and the main process was authenticity and ‘Can I say what I am really feeling’? We learnt how to love more, to accept and adjust with different groups.” There was a contagious spirit of acceptance and celebration in the performance that came from this freedom of being “allowed to forget lines, take help, freeze on stage and feel comfortable with that. That’s the confidence we wanted to build in them.”

As Fakeera had promised, the audience did indeed love the effervescent joy in the performance and walked out with a sense not just of unity, but also of hope, that Auroville is planting the seeds of a new culture in unexpected places.

To watch the performance: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d5F4z2m57M