An Immigrant’s Story

After the creation of dance theater solo An Immigrant’s Story, Wanjiru Kamuyu wished to revisit the work to render it accessible to the hearing and visually impaired communities. This desire stems from and is inspired by her mother’s work with the blind and special education communities in East Africa and the US.

Kamuyu’s dance making is grounded in storytelling, with a particular focus on ignored, rarely told and untold stories of marginalized communities. Hence at the heart of An Immigrant’s Story is a diverse collection of stories from a wide range of walks of life. Therefore the question of accessibility became an essential.

In collaboration with dancer/interpreter Nelly Célérine and French sign language coach Carlos Carreras, Kamuyu re-created the choreographic tapestry of An Immigrant’s Story. Together they created the work’s choreo-sign language by fusing the gestural vocabulary of sign language and the already existing movement languages of the piece.

There lies common ground in the linguistic and accessibility challenges faced by all who travel and arrive into new spaces and cultural contexts. Dramaturgical and choreographic questions on the how and the why were once again tackled in the re-creation of An Immigrant’s Story.

In partnership with Accès Culture (Paris), Julie Compans’ sensitive approach to creating audio-descriptions for choreographic and theatrical works was of valuable service to An Immigrant’s Story. She skillfully created a beautifully descriptive journey for the visually impaired. A journey that evidently is also inclusive of the new choreo-sign language movement vocabulary of the work. Pre-performance immersive sensorial workshops are also offered to the visually impaired audiences. This familiarizes them with the work’s theatrical environment.