"My name is Pedro Salvador and I am a musician, composer, and performer. For several years, I have been exploring composition and performance in the context of dance and theater, focusing on the relationship between performing arts and the community in various social inclusion projects. Much of this work has been done under the guidance of choreographer Madalena Victorino. It is within the context of this longstanding collaboration and partnership that BOWING entered my life. First as a musician in the BOWING show (2021), and later as a coordinator, music creator, and trainer in BOWING BACK (2022). My connection with this region began in 2016 with the Alteo-Bú show (created by Madalena Victorino and Pedro Salvador), which addressed the integration of the Nepalese, Bulgarian, and Indian communities that were then living in São Teotónio and Almograve. Five years later, upon my return, it was inevitable to relive the memories that this project left behind. Unfortunately the time I had was short, preventing me from experiencing the entire process of bringing up this first BOWING show. However, it was this very show that opened the door for the following year, where I collaborated from February until the presentation of BOWING BACK in November. From this process I highlight the work done in the training sessions during the first semester of the year, leading to greater integration of participants, both artistically and personally. Indeed, this work allowed us to raise BOWING BACK in the span of six weeks, during which we experienced the dissolution of the strangeness between worlds that did not know each other. In my role as coordinator and music creator, I saw the work enriched by the exchange of ideas and experiences from the musicians who joined the large cast, as well as the generosity and enthusiasm of so many people who shared the music of their cultures with us, contributing significantly to the musical creation. I remember three Indian teenagers, rappers, who approached us timidly. They had written a hip-hop song to show us. They told me they weren't relaxed to rap and didn't feel the beat I was giving them. I told them it would be different when the rest of the band arrived. And so it happened; as soon as they heard the power of the drums, they transformed, and the shyness that accompanied them disappeared. They ran to the musicians with immense joy, being able to fulfill the dream of rapping in public for the first time."