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Those Roots Within (2025)
What happens when Deaf and hearing cultures encounter one another in performance?
Those Roots Within (Ces racines en soi, in french) is a contemporary dance duet created by Alida Esmail, Sophia Wright, and Hodan Youssouf. Themes of minority identities and immigration come alive through movement, signed music, vibrations, and lighting while Esmail and Youssouf transform the stage into a world map, retracing their ancestors’ steps. Their paths come in and out of sync, offering a reflection on intersection, disconnection, and family history. Esmail and Youssouf exist in their respective realities as they negotiate with the world around them. Every time their trajectories cross, it allows for a reflection on allyship and the effort necessary to bring such diverse experiences into communication.
CREDITS
Producers: Alida Esmail, Sophia Wright
Co-creators: Alida Esmail, Sophia Wright, Hodan Youssouf
Performers: Alida Esmail, Hodan Youssouf
Lighting Designer: Aurora Torok
Sound and Vibration Designer: Samuel Thulin
Costume Consultant: Nalo Soyini Bruce
Dramaturg: Fatma Sarah Elkashef
Dramaturgical and Choreographic Consultant: Thea Patterson
Deaf Cultural Consultant: Daz Saunders
Performance Coach: Peter Trosztmer
Deaf Communications Consultants: Sylvain Gélinas, Shirley Yu
Social Media Assistant: Shirley Yu
Primary ASL-English Interpreters: Jennifer Roberts, Brooke Nancekivell, Bohdan Ladashevska
Primary LSQ-French Interpreters: Catherine Langevin-Pepin, Charline Marmet & Marie Penelle of iLSQ
Outside Eyes: Emilie Peltier, Sylvain Gélinas, Dominique Ireland, Shirley Yu, Lia Mavroudis, Véro Leduc, Lucy Fandel
Logo Designer: Zoé Rodriguez
Photography: David Wong
Videography: star~kim project
Funders: Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Fondation des Sourds du Québec, Montréal arts interculturels
Co-produced with MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels)
Developed in collaboration with Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal
Residencies: MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal, Studio 303, Maison de la culture Maisonneuve, QUAI 5160- Maison de la culture de Verdun, La Serre arts vivants, Maison de la culture de Côte-des-Neiges
Premiered at MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) in Montreal, Canada from February 26 to March 1, 2025
Duration: 60 minutes
