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When art merges with activism, the results can be powerful. That’s the aim of Oxfam’s latest project with global ballet star, Irina Kolesnikova. The dancer will be visiting two refugee reception centers on the Macedonian-Serbian border where over 3000 refugees are currently stranded due to the closure of the so-called “Western Balkans Route.”
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These centers were meant to be temporary but have grown due to border closures. Hundreds of refugees are currently stationed there, with half the population being children, most under five-years-old and highly susceptible to be being smuggled.
Kolesnikova will be visiting these centers to see how Oxfam is providing refugees with hygiene kits, protection services and other aid. She will be talking to refugees and hearing stories of their treacherous journeys. Kolesnikova and her choreographer at the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre will draw on their experience to create a new ballet of Carmen that takes place in a refugee center.
“The Carmen story speaks to timeless themes of hope and despair, suffering and a thirst for a better life. The plight of the refugees is a very urgent expression of these concerns,” said Kolesnikova in a press release issued by Oxfam.
The ballet is titled "Her Name Was Carmen" and will run at London’s Coliseum from the Aug. 25-28 before going on a world tour. According to the release, a pound from every ticket sold will go to support Oxfam’s work in the region.
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