Workshops with Adults

Between January and June 2021, our work with the adults was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and sessions were postponed until greater freedom of movement. The initial workshops took place in an intensive agriculture company, where workers spent months in greenhouses cultivating berries, with little time outside the company. The participants, only men, arrived very tired at the end of their intense days, yet they established a strong connection with music and dance, showcasing their bhangra moves to the rhythms played by Junior on the drum. Sessions took place on the football field or in places of passage. Madalena improvised choreographies in real-time, and Inês joined the group to learn their dances. However, due to the geographic isolation of the greenhouse and the exhausting days of these men, we couldn't get them to join the performance or attend sessions regularly, prompting us to adapt our approach. We began to offer sessions in town centres: at the São Teotónio Parish Council, Cineteatro Camacho Costa, and Odemira Market. Participants arrived in large numbers. Word spread among the migrant community. In the second year, some women and Portuguese participants joined. There was a festive atmosphere. Initially, we faced some difficulty finding a way to communicate with the group, but a few months later, we found the necessary spontaneity to create genuine relationships. "We are in a circle, facing each other, panels of new words on the wall. Margarida calls, pushes the air, and the group retreats. She makes space for them to occupy: GIVE and RECEIVE, LENA, DENA. The men speak and chew Portuguese and want to learn. Jagroop didn't enter; Jagjeet followed his friend. Farouk goes live on TikTok and points to the new words. Kahleel doesn't listen and endlessly repeats the Portuguese sounds that our mouths release. The others focus: the energy is dense, full of will, a lot of life. (session in 2022)" During these sessions, we danced a lot, wrote, drew, sang, played theatre games, and inspiration arose from the participants' work, homes, families, and cultures. From the second year onward, the focus of the workshops shifted to creating a space for cultural exchange and opening the way for learning the Portuguese language. We provided notebooks for participants to take note of new words they heard. Some already spoke the language, while others had never tasted it before. We had visits from dance, music, voice and theatre artists who embraced these adults and shared their universe with them: "Margarida Mestre arrived. She has angular gestures and a feline gaze. Body positions could be timeless statues as if she were illustrating all directions in the air. She brings Bangladeshis in the van, like Madalena, like Inês, like me. We meet in the square of São Teotónio, and a multitude of Bangladeshis exits our cars and enter the Parish Council. We enter, too. Pedro Salvador has prepared the room. (session in 2022)" As a result of this closer approach to men and women in the second year, the final performance had, contrary to the previous one, a significant participation from the adult population (as well as young people), with an intimacy and deepening of our work together.