Being on this PMSLA (Prime Ministers Scholarship for Latin America) tour to go to Colombia and share such a beautiful embodied exchange of knowledge was powerful.
I enjoyed learning about Caleno and Colombian culture, and understanding the way they view performing arts in their perspectives. I enjoyed teaching the students from Universidad del Valle as they were engaged with all of our workshops and were so respectful and attentive, which shows how they valued us and made us feel safe to interact and teach as well. I loved how we connected with each-other through movement despite the language barrier. It showed how dance can transcend verbal language and be a way to authentically connect with each-other. I loved every moment of this trip, as it allowed me to understand their values, insights, thoughts and feelings of dance and what it means to them.
This tour allowed us to be immersed in Colombian culture through the food, the sights, the workshops, the language, the values all intertwined together and changing assumptions that we all had of Colombia. As there is a reputation of it being unsafe, and with all countries in the world there is a level of danger in certain areas, whereas experiencing and understanding the politics and systems in places there, allowed us to be informed.
This scholarship is what I strongly recommend for everyone to go and apply for, as it changes your views of the world where you meet like-minded people or people that are completely different from you, and you ultimately grow in your thinking. You will become more critical as well as more curious around the culture. And for me that was the case for Colombian culture and me engaging in my curiosity through research around people from Buenaventura in Colombia and their surroundings, and how they find resilience in dance and theatre despite the heavy impoverished environment.
A highlight was the students from Universidad del Valle (particularly the creative performing arts students from Buenaventura) and them engaging in my Samoan workshop and learning about my culture and then saying that there are similarities of Colombian culture to Samoan culture, was so profound. And sharing that Pacific ocean (Oceania/Aotearoa) and Pacific coast (Colombia) connection was what stayed with me throughout the trip. As we had so much in common and values in common too.