The peruvian dancers, tight in their colorful dresses, danced on the rhythm scanned by the audience. The rattles of the typical Sri Lanka costumes have jingled moved by the Asiatic dancers. The Senegalese percussion, the typical Florentine songs, and the Italian dances from the Renaissance time, made everyone dance. Finally the interactive games, promoted among the public, taught the presents that there are no limits to curiosity and that ethnic origin is nothing more than a characteristic, it’s not a reason for diversity but something useful for mutual knowledge.
The party promoted by the European Project Bridges in Florence was a great party which brought together more than 250 people on January 18 in the parish of San Donato in Polverosa. The event, entitled “Dances and shows from the World”, was organized by the italian association AiCS, together with other 20 associations, that have been working together for more than a month to plan the event, through the method of “co-design”. This event has become a real festival of cultures in which everyone contributed through the participatory meetings, managed by the “community organizers” of the project, to organize every detail.
Volunteers and operators have welcomed the audience showing the goals of the project, which is aimed to fight xenophobia, cultural barriers and social divisions, promoting the cohesion of the community. After that they leaved room to the show, where the audience has always been the main character, participating to the dances, scanning the rhythm of the music with their hands, accompanying the parade with typical dresses, participating to the interactive games aimed to promote the meeting among people and, in the end, taking selfies with our “Bridges’ social frame”.
Among the people there was also the Major of the 5th Neighborhood of Florence, Cristiano Balli and also the philippine Consul and dean of the Florence consulate staff, Fabio Fanfani. Both of them have taken the floor to remark the positive value of events like this aimed to promote meetings among people from different countries but living in the same community. The 20 associations that have contributed, together with AiCS, to make the party more colorful and participated at the theatre are: Association “Piazza San Donato”, “Teatro del Legame”, “Colombia ES”, “SMS Rifredi”, “Insieme per Brozzi”, “Laboratorio Permanente per la Pace di Rifredi”, “SMS Peretola”, Cultural Association “Viva El Perù”, “Associazione dei Senegalesi di Firenze e Circondario”, “Confederazione Regionale della Comunità Filippina in Toscana”, “Sin Fronteras”, “Libera Associazione dello Sri Lanka in Toscana”, “Centro Età Libera Il Tabernacolo”, Association “Zero-Zero Firenze 5 onlus”, the Church of “San Donato in Polverosa”, Association “Il Colle”, “Novoli Bene Comune”, “Rete di Solidarietà Q5”, “La Scena Muta” and “La Nuova Pippolese”.
Next meeting: on the 22nd of february, in Florence, for our second event to celebrate the Carnival together with out party named “Giochi dal mondo”.
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