Austin-based non-profit dance company Early Era Collective celebrated immigrants through a dance and film exhibit-style production at the George Washington Carver Museum. Audience members walked through five rooms that showed filmed interviews of Bangladeshi, Palestinian, Lebanese and Filipino immigrants. Additionally, they viewed live dance performances featuring Austin dancers and dance studios such as Austin Dance India and A’lante Flamenco.
The show sought to show as many perspectives and stories as possible. Performers received complete creative control over what they created for the production, said Stephanie Patrick, Rising from the Roots’ artistic director.
“It was a blend of ‘this is my life experience being an immigrant and this is the culture from my homeland that I bring to enrich the U.S.,’” Patrick said.
Alexa Capareda, a dancer, choreographer and Rising from the Roots’ interviewee, co-
choreographed a piece deriving movement from Filipino folk dances, ballet and contemporary, alongside dancer and choreographer Lisa Del Rosario. Capareda said the dance represents the juxtaposition of belonging and not belonging in Filipino and American culture.
“We wanted to give (the audience) that sense of discomfort that comes with not knowing where you belong,” Capareda said. “We also wanted the audience to feel, at the end, hopeful in that there are so many things that unite us.”
Rahul Chakraborty, Rising from the Roots’ co-creator and director of documentaries, said the filmmakers spent hours listening to the interviewees speak about their experiences and refrained from asking specific questions to capture the stories’ authenticity.
“Each of these stories have such magnificence within them that it didn’t really need anything more,” Chakraborty said.
Capareda said the show acted as a powerful experience for the audience. She said watching culturally specific dances, blended cultural dances and immigrant interviews shows the beauty of diversity in the U.S.
“The U.S. has been touted as this melting pot of culture and (Rising from the Roots) shows that it’s beautiful when we bring all of these cultures together,” Capareda said. “There’s so many mutual nodes that unite us.”
Chakraborty said the stories told are timeless because they showcase an overlooked part of American culture.
“Shows like this need to happen more. There are hundreds and thousands of stories that we weren’t able to capture,” Chakraborty said. “Storytelling and listening to these stories are extremely essential for America to be better … (Immigrants) are here because they want a better life for themselves and their family.”
After watching the show, Patrick said she wants people to understand the immigrant community’s vastness and for immigrants to see their cultures shown in movements.
“I want (immigrants) to see their stories reflected in the stories that they heard and feel seen, appreciated and hopeful,” Patrick said.
