Walk with Amal
Walk with Amal
Join us on June 7 as we welcome Little Amal to Tkaronto (Toronto)!
The Welcome Project: Walk with Amal for Walk with Amal Toronto produced by The Walk Productions and Luminato Festival Toronto in association with Handspring Puppet Company Little Amal is a 12-foot tall puppet of a 10-year Syrian refugee, who has travelled through 13 countries to 90 cities across Turkey, Europe and New York City. Amal is an unaccompanied minor travelling alone in search of her Mother. Along her search she is greeted and welcomed by The Walk, which is a performance art project created to raise awareness. Amal means “hope” in Arabic – and – Amal is a symbol of hope for all Children who have been displaced, whose lives and families have been torn apart by war, forced separation, loss, genocide, and homelessness. She is a reminder to all of us of the real children who need our love, kindness, attention, care and support.
The Welcome Project: Walk with Amal is stewarded by the Dreamwalker Conscious Bodies Core Ensemble Andrea Nann, Danielle Denichaud, Isaiah Gilson, Joshua Classic Roots DePerry, Kelsi James, Mayumi Lashbrook, Michelle Silagy, Philip Davis and creative producer Shelby Wright. We are a collective of diverse artists honouring the stories, perspectives and lived experiences of different cultures, Lands and Peoples through our collaborative work. With The Welcome Project we offer sequences of choreographed Positive Actions called Welcome Gestures to activate group movement intended to generate empowering unified connections - awakening bodies, hearts, voices, imaginations and perceptions.
Amal arrives in Toronto on June 7 and will walk across the region for 5 days looking for hope and her new home. On Wednesday, June 7th from 5 PM – 7:30 PM Dreamwalker is organizing and assembling Indigenous artists, dancers, drummers, singers, butterflies and community participants to greet Amal, to welcome her, and to guide her along her path from Union Station to Nathan Phillips Square. At Nathan Phillps Square Indigenous leaders will honour Amal with a poem and a round dance, honorary grandmothers will offer words of advice, and the community will rejoice with music in the excitement of Amal’s arrival in Toronto. Starts: Union Station Plaza, 55 Front St W, Toronto, ON M5J 1E6 Ends: Nathan Phillips Square, 100 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5H 2N1 Please join us in Welcoming Amal!
If you would like to learn The Welcome Gestures or wish to receive more information about the route Amal will take on June 7th please contact us at dreamwalkerdance@gmail.com with the subject heading “Walk with Amal”
More about The Welcome Gesture and Positive Public Actions 16 unique gestures have been created for welcoming LIttle Amal - we are here to soften, open, ground and move from a place of kindness, care, love, and welcoming. Each gesture has a name, with meanings and intentions embedded in each. We will conclude each set of gestures with our signature Culminating Welcome Gesture. Learn the Culminating Gesture here https://vimeo.com/831066608/ed0b331a2c?share=copy We are honoured to be living, working, gathering and creating in Tkaronto/Toronto on Dish With One Spoon Indigenous Territory and acknowledge the Land as Traditional Territory of many Nations including the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnabeg, the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Chippewa, and the Wendat Peoples. It is our intent that everyone feels invited, respected, and welcomed to participate in our events and activities. We are learning and celebrating core values by creating space for all people to ‘come’ together, and to be ‘well’ together. Together, we strive for reciprocity, so that we all experience giving and receiving in equitable ways. Though we may speak different languages, we are all connected through the language of the body. Through positive gestures, we can demonstrate openness and trust, and invite kind connections to be made between peoples; supporting a welcoming environment. Please join us in Welcoming Amal!
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