Hemi GSI Convergence 2015 - Performance

Jorge Luis Morejon in The Healing Power of Expression. 

 University of Texas, Austin.Photo. Maydelaine Rodriguez Castillo 

The Healing Power of Expression: A Journey of Trauma, Pain and Transformation 

Abstract: The concept of “Collectivities in TransMigration” is seldomly addressed within the scope of an

immigrant’s personal experience. Yet, the sum of all personal migration experiences is also part of the collective history of transmigration. The Healing Power of Expression: A Journey of Trauma, Pain and Transformation narrates the transitions in the life of an immigrant and the intersections of his multiple life experiences: childhood in his country of origin, migration to a new country and adaptation to another system. A traumatic life experience at home makes him go to a boarding school. Socio-political unrest makes him and his family the subject of official and public repudiation. The arrival to a new country faces him with new and seemingly insurmountable challenges: a new identity, a new language, a new reality and the trauma caused by all of these circumstances. The journey is presented in movement, song and spoken word with

very low production cost. Four chairs and four pieces of cardboard is all what is needed for this 5 minutes long piece. Thus, Jorge Luis Morejón has created a piece that has been carefully designed to be performed for various audiences and to be adaptable to different performance, spaces. The intensity of the piece speaks to those who in the face of unbearable circumstances are forced to leave to another country as immigrants with no option to return. The uncertainties of having to start a new life, the challenges and adaptations needed to fit in and the otherness implicit in being an immigrant may cause physical, psychological and emotional pain, a reality with which many audience members may identify. However the piece does not dwell in the

difficulties of such experience, quite the opposite; it underlines the transformative power human beings have, specifically immigrants, to overcome all kinds of adversities. Despite the intensity of the piece, pain and trauma are presented as rites of passage into a more meaningful and fulfilling life. The transformation makes him stronger, more powerful and capable. Despite the narrated experiences, the immigrant wins in the end when he realizes he is closer than ever to achieving his full potential as a human being.