What makes you feel free? What does freedom look like, feel like, sound like… to you? What is your freedom? If one thing in your life was different, and got you one step closer to your idea of freedom, what would it be?
For some people, freedom is found in justice, for others in peace, and for some in a song, a transportive book, or in the choice to have a delicious piece of cake. Others find freedom in finding belonging, a home, a place, a community, a person, a habit. Ex-Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mohamedou Ould Slahi found freedom in forgiveness, after being wrongfully detained and tortured for over 14 years. Together with him we now make the dance performance ‘Freedom’.
Inspired by the story of Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a man whose freedom was, and still is, compromised, by unlawfully serving detention in Guantanamo Bay for fourteen years, our dance performance Freedom wants to connect with you and your experience of freedom and a lack thereof. Freedom is now on tour and will probably play in a city near you. Order now or read more below.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Mohamedou had a humble upbringing in his home country of Mauritania. In the 1980s he won a scholarship to study in Germany, which he did. But then he made a choice that would haunt him till this day.
Mohamedou joined an Al-Qaida camp to train for the (U.S. supported) rebellion in Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet government. Little did he know that his involvement with Al-Qaida in the 80s and 90s would put a target on his back and exile him from the western world after the 9/11 attacks. He was labeled a (potential) terrorist and even though he repeatedly stressed that he cut off all ties after the rebellion, the majority of his life since the fall of 2002 has been spent being interrogated, manipulated, and tortured.
Amongst all the chaos and turmoil, he has taught us that we are not who the world tells us we are; that everyone deserves freedom and that we owe it to ourselves to find it.
FREEDOM may just be a gateway; it may be what you have been looking for all along.
Podcast FREEDOM – The Warm-up
Want to know more about the story of Mohamedou and how we turned that into a dance performance? Listen to our episode FREEDOM – The Warm-up in your favorite podcastapp or below.