Healing A Legacy Of The Past

Part of the performance of Rhizophora.

Many of us of a certain age remember when the US was involved in the Vietnam War and then also the brokered peace. We have gone on with our lives, most of us, and rarely think about what became of those in whose country the war was fought.

For some Vietnamese, however, the legacy of the war has remained with them. You see, the US dropped some chemicals upon the vegetation, which ended up affecting human beings, some for generations. Those chemicals went by the names of napalm and agent orange. Yes, some of our military members, who were there at the time also live with the legacy of those years. There are those that died from the effects and those that live with severe disabilities from the effects of those chemicals.



Back in 1988, George Mizo, a Vietnam War veteran, made his peace with some of this legacy by collaborating with Vietnamese and French veterans in establishing the VIETNAM FRIENDSHIP VILLAGE PROJECT, where up to 120 children with various forms of physical and mental disabilities live and receive help, hope, and an education, along with about 40 adults receiving similar treatment services. The village expressed in concrete form friendship, peace, and reconciliation among nations, who were previously at war.

Into the lives of village members came Julia Metzger-Trager and Davide DeLillis, two dance performance artists, who have formed a movement and performance group, CHE.NE.SO?. They are involved with experiments in movement, performance, and coexistence. Both Julia and Davide have backgrounds in choreography and dance.

Julia and Davide were offering a three-week intensive dance creation workshop for members of the village project. It was meant to foster acceptance of the bodies so ravaged by chemicals, releasing their inner beauty, and also maintain awareness in the world community about the ongoing effects of the Vietnam War. The workshop resulted in a dance performance piece and video poem, RHIZOPHORA.

Some of the workshop and performance participants.

At the time the group was in the planning stages, Julia said, "[This process] will undoubtedly be spiritually fulfilling for the participants, as well as for the artists. The honest communication to the viewers, through their bodies, in the performances and video will be an eye-opening gift to the public." The video of the performance has just been completed this year.

On a visit to Hanoi.

Thanks to this article from Pollination Project: https://thepollinationproject.org/grants-awarded/julia-metzger-traber-lighter-orange/; and the above links.

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