The Voice

How to Put Roots Down in Concrete

By Dawn Fleming, Performer

There are some place names that you carry with you, even before you’ve been there yourself. Since small, I carried Ardamine, Vergemount Park, Riverchapel and the Swings at Ramore Head. Later came Eccles St, Parklands, Stoneybatter…and so many more.

“Where are you from?” I am asked, nearly every day of the 14 years I have lived in Brazil…And then there comes the choice “What do I answer today?”. For everyone in my family, and all the generations before us, the answer is, and was, Ireland (exactly which part of the 486km length of the country varies – each time itself telling a story). Both my parents and my brother, all born in Dublin. I, as it happened, was born in London, lived a short while in the US and grew up from the age of 6 in Canada. And then, when I finished a theatre degree at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, I promptly went away to start my life as an adult. Where? Ireland. Of course Ireland. 

There is something in us of “going away”. Us Irish. And in our family it was no different. My mum’s parents left Belfast for Dublin, My Dad’s to England and back again. My parents emigrated to North America like so many millions of Irish before and after them. Seemingly, my going away was in the blood. And there comes the question again, if you’ve “gone away”, where are you from? Where are your roots? 

“I have forged more roots and have new place names to carry with me that now mingle with the ones from further afield”

This question was one of several that informed the creation of the performance/intervention “REFUGE or how to put down roots in concrete” by Cia. Artesãos do Corpo. The São Paulo based dance-theatre company was founded in 1999 by sociologist, dancer, and actress Mirtes Calheiros, has more than 30 original creations in its repertoire, and I have been fortunate enough to be a member of the company since 2017. 

“REFÚGIO – ou como fixar raízes no concreto” explores the concept of putting down roots in a context where the body is forced to frequently uproot itself. It gives voice, body and weight to diverse stories and shared experiences in the city of São Paulo, and gives a new dimension to the idea of home. It begins with nine pairs of shoes with concrete bases in the space, forming an installation. The performers’ bodies and the soundtrack composed of testimonials from people born in other countries, who have adopted São Paulo as their home and place to put down roots, fill the stage space with various poetic and symbolic layers. As the theme so directly connected to my personal experience, I was one of the nine people recorded (the others from Japan, Syria, Italy, Mozambique, France, Taiwan, Germany and Uruguay) responding to four questions: 

Where are your roots? What is it like to live far from those roots? Why did you move away from your roots? What do you miss?

Being invited to reflect on and respond to these questions touched deeply held feelings that I imagine are shared by many who have had some experience of “going away”. 

We have performed this piece many times over the years since it was first created. There is a moment during the performance where I hear my own voice mixed and overlapping with the voices of the others, and the temporality of my answer, recorded years before, encounters a new “present” that sparks different performative responses in each presentation we make of the piece.

As written in the material about “REFÚGIO”: the concept of rooting is an urgent issue, as the global context of economic, political, social and environmental crises causes the number of displaced persons, refugees and immigrants to grow daily around the world. In a city like São Paulo, where there is an eternal crisis between construction and deconstruction, past and future, loss and permanence, it is very difficult to put down roots and create collective meanings and significance, since historical and symbolic spaces are destroyed or decharacterised in the blink of an eye, preventing people from appropriating and establishing connections, bonds and affections. 

Artesãos do Corpo has been resisting and existing for 26 years amidst this urban reality in São Paulo. A feat of extreme dedication, belief and commitment. Over my years with Artesãos, I have had the opportunity to create and perform new works for stage, street and unconventional spaces; learn, adapt and perform existing works for new audiences; receive international visiting artists for the company’s “Visões Urbanas Festival”, and be received as a visiting artist myself abroad. So many sensitive exchanges, glances and moments of connection with the audiences. And crucially, throughout these years, I have made incredible friendships and shared memories with those in the Company.

I have forged more roots and have new place names to carry with me that now mingle with the ones from further afield.

About the Author

Dawn Fleming, Performer

Dawn Fleming is a performer with Cia Artesãos do Corpo and creates collaborative innovation programmes with Waterlution.  She lives in São Paulo with her husband and their two children.

All photos by @fabio.pazzini