Voicing Pain Through Performance

This is a very powerful piece.  No matter how many newspaper articles or books I read about immigration or difficult experiences that refugees faced in their countries of origin, I think this poem was the most powerful.  Seeing the performance live must also be incredibly moving.  Even more than hearing an immigrant’s story told or watching it being performed, more abstract performance piece is quite moving.  Each one line shot right to my heart and made me think about what that phrase meant.  Also, I think allowing these students to perform more abstract pieces helps with the healing process, they are much more free to express themselves however they choose instead of being restricted to a certain medium.  On another note, the fact that Queens is the most diverse country in the nation was an interesting way to think about immigrant communities and how in large cities, although they may have pockets where a particular immigrant group is dominant, they will still come into contact with many other types of people.