Last week, the Murmansk edition of The Power of Diversity exploded to life at Barents Bird festival with young performers from ten European countries taking to the stage, along with dancers from Northern Norway, Gust Life (Murmansk) & MTI Murmansk.
The large-scale street-theatre performance took place at the Murmansk harbour, in front of the ice-breaker Lenin and newly renovated Murmansk SeaPort Station. The show told the story of a post-apocalyptic world where young people’s hopes and dreams become the focus for rebuilding – bringing together the performers own backgrounds and creativity in the process.
The project, which has been under development for more than two years, was technically and artistically driven by the young performers themselves. Their enthusiasm and professionalism was at the core of the project’s success. Pikene på Broen’s Franziska Kraizcy reflected on the importance of this project as a meeting place for young people who, through mutual respect creative energy, had crafted their own message.
With today’s political situation in Europe, where people become more and more divided, it becomes even more important to create cross-border meeting places, where people from different cultures and backgrounds meet and can have a joyful experience together. These meetings, big or small, are what break down boundaries and prejudices. For Pikene på Broen, the Crossing Lines Project – The Power of Diversity is a project that contributes to this kind of work.
The Crossing Lines Project – The Power of Diversity is kindly supported by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union, the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Special thanks to the project partners Barents Bird festival Murmansk and Aktionstheater PAN.OPTIKUM – and not least the engaged and enthusiastic public who joined us for the performance.
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Мурманский вестник
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Cover image: Maksim Malyutin