When I Look At You I Am Drawing A Map

When I Look At You I Am Drawing A Map is a commissioned work created for students of the professional dance course at Performact, Portugal. The piece examines the relationship between our mother tongue and our sense of self. How is our identity shaped, and re-shaped by communicating in our own language or the language of our new home, or our colonisers?

With a richly multi-cultural cast from Portugal, India, Spain, Germany, Austria, France, Poland and Hungary the experiences of the performers became an important aspect of the creation and performance of this work. The piece features poetry by poet Rudy Fransisco and is inspired by a poem by Alyssia Harris.

When I Look At You I Am Drawing A Map was performed as part of the Multiplicidades in Torres Vedras, Portugal in July 2021.

Choreography: Ali Clarke

Performers: First and Second Year Students at Performact Professional Dance Course

Music: Various Artists

Support: Performact

Poetry: Rudy Fransisco, Alyssia Harris