Empowering Youth through Dance: Nursha Project Collaboration with El Puente

Just missed the presentation of ” The Last Layer : An Embodiment of the Words We Never Get to Say,” a performance by CARAS: El Puente Dance Ensemble at the organization’s Williamsburg-based leadership institute in Brooklyn, New York. The mission of CARAS is “to empower young artists to express themselves through movement and dance, and to create innovative works that explore the social and political issues that affect their daily lives.” With lighting and sound provided by Nursha Project, “The Last Layer” features seven high-school students who take the audience on a journey of self-exploration, breaking through struggles pertaining to identity development, family dynamics, and sociocultural and political disappointments. Through solo performances, dance ensembles, and spoken-word, the student-artists break free of their challenges and find new perspectives on love and trust, while seeking a sense of belonging in their communities.

June 18th and 19th, 2010

211 South 4th Street

Brooklyn, New York 11211

EL PUENTE

“The Last Layer” is a journey to express our identity; to release our past experiences. We struggle with our fears of growing older because of the uncertainty of where life will take us and where we want to take ourselves. We substitute our emptiness, using others to fill the void in order to bring us a sense of belonging. Although we often feel that what is happening to us isn’t normal it is our most vulnerable moments that are the most natural; they are life in its purest form.

Thus our need for love encourages us to trust one another in hopes of finding love and compassion. Through expression and reflection we figuratively peel through our last layer in order to gain a new perspective on our past, accepting that the past affects us but does not limit who we can be.”

~CARAS

For more information about EL PUENTE, click here .