A beautiful, moving and thought provoking exploration of migration, displacement, courage and determination, through a blend of modern choral work, spoken word and photography. Created by Lucy Renwick, Kim Ayres, Kate Howard and Moxie DePaulitte.
Where/When: World Premiere – Theatre Royal, Dumfries. Tuesday 19th June 7:30 / The Print Room, Wigtown Friday 22nd June 7:30 / Cresset Hall, Loch Arthur. Saturday 23rd June 7:30 / Lochside Gala. Sunday 8th July Time tbc. Tickets: £10/£6 concessions – (Please note there are a number of free tickets available for those who might find cost a barrier).
Just four weeks ago the Moving Stories Community Choir met for the very first time at The Theatre Royal, Dumfries to rehearse this newly created piece. What happened next surpassed everyone’s expectations as, from the first moment the music passed the singers lips, it was apparent that something magical was unfolding. You are warmly invited to join them during Refugee Week and experience this new performance piece, which blends modern choral work with spoken word and photography in a bid to send a message of hope and unity across the region; bringing people together from all walks of life to create something beautiful, moving and thought provoking.
Dumfries based charity Massive Outpouring of Love (MOOL) has joined forces with a local composer, photographer and choral director to create an amazing new work which hopes to spark conversation and update opinions surrounding the concept of migration and the struggles that ‘incomers’ face.
Composed by Lucy Renwick, Moving Stories explores the many reasons that people migrate to Dumfries and Galloway and the work was inspired by interviews conducted with people from all over the globe who have made their home here.
Guided by the incredibly talented choral director Kate Howard, #MoStoCoCho have given up hours of their time and travelled from across the region to attend rehearsals and bring this beautiful new work to life.
Photographer Kim Ayres has taken some stunning portraits of those brave enough to have shared their stories, and writer Moxie DePaulitte has taken these stories as a catalyst to create poignant and provocative spoken word pieces, in her unique, uncompromising style.
Kim said “There is no us and them; there is only us, in all our exquisite diversity. It is more important than ever to reconnect to our ability to empathise and realise “them” are just “us” in different packaging. Hopefully these images contribute to the voices standing up against artificial divisions.”
Jay Rubinstein, MOOL Trustee said “I’ve had the privilege of working on Moving Stories both helping with the interviews and as part of the choir. It’s been fascinating to learn about the very different experiences of the people who have come here. I’ve learnt a lot about how safe people feel and how many of them feel genuinely welcomed by the community.
The choir has been an astonishing and uplifting joy! It’s an enormous boost to be involved with so many others in putting together something so novel. I really hope that people who come to listen to the songs will feel they have some kind of understanding and connection with the new people in our area.”
The project has been made possible by the kind support of The Regional Arts Fund.
For further information please visit our website movingstories.mool.scot or find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MoolMovingStories/
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