Focolare Movement

Harmony for Peace: the unstoppable (virtual) march

Dec 2, 2020

Now in its eighth edition, even Covid could not stop the march that is part of the "Harmony Among Peoples” festival. We talk with Antonella Lombardo, artistic director of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza (LAD) dance school in Montecatini, Italy and promoter of the event.

Now in its eighth edition, even Covid could not stop the march that is part of the “Harmony Among Peoples” festival. We talk with Antonella Lombardo, artistic director of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza (LAD) dance school in Montecatini, Italy and promoter of the event. We have seen them in the most different places in these months of pandemic: pianists, violinists, rockers, pop and opera singers on the roofs, in the squares, in the parks, always keeping the right distance. It bears witness how nothing and no one can stop artistic expression, not even a worldwide virus. Antonella Lombardo is artistic director of the Laboratorio Accademico Danza school in Montecatini, near Florence, Italy. He’s also the creator of the Harmony Among Peoples festival that for 15 years has been promoting the idea of the search for possible harmony through art, as an inclusive and universal instrument. The 2020 edition did not stop with Covid. What shape did the festival take this year? The “Harmony for Peace” march is one of the main events of the “Harmony among Peoples” festival, and we knew that this year we were not going to be able to hold it in the traditional way. A virtual format was the only possibility, and so we launched it on 12 November. We invited schools in the area in which we are located, as well as beyond Italy, to make videos that express the meaning of peace. The response was incredible. Despite the fact that many schools in Italy now use, from a certain degree upwards, education at a distance, teachers supported the project, students responded enthusiastically, and everything took on a higher value, especially from the point of view of building relationships. The teachers collaborated with each other, and many classes made the videos that we posted on the DanceLab Armonia Cultural Association Facebook page. We received works not only from Italy, but also from other countries like France and Jordan. Thus an extremely varied digital marathon took shape and said “peace” in the most diverse artistic and choreographic formats. Of the material you received, was there something that touched you in a particular way? Why? We were struck first of all by the interactions among the kids. We don’t know where all this will lead, and the fact that they got together to work on what it means to build peace, today, is perhaps the most important thing. They had to come up with ideas with their teachers in order to make the videos. They went deep into the meaning of peace, and the fact that it is not a slogan. This made them have to dig into each other’s hearts. Even the civil servants from towns in our area who saw the early beginnings and growth of the “Harmony Among Peoples” festival were enthusiastic and told us that it was one of the most beautiful activities of their lives. In short, these relationships are the most beautiful fruit: true relationships, based on relationships built on our common good. What projects are you working on now? In collaboration with the Custody of the Holy Land, particularly with the support of Fr. Ibrahim Faltas and the John Paul II Foundation, we are working to create a dance school in Bethlehem. This project hopes to be a glimmer of hope and give dignity to so many children in these territories, who are prisoners in the open air. Another project is an international campus for dance, which will be based in Italy but be international. It will be a training centre where art will become a tool to break any kind of barrier – a place for all young people who want to leave their mark and use this language to bring beauty everywhere, even where it seems impossible.

Stefania Tanesini

___

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to Newsletter

Thought of the day

Related post

Searching for peace: a path in the hands of each of us

Searching for peace: a path in the hands of each of us

Eliminate every desire of power. In a world constantly torn apart by conflict and in following Pope Leo XIV’s invitation to build an “unarmed and disarming” peace, we want to share a reflection by Chiara Lubich that is extremely relevant for us today, taken from a 1981 Word of Life.

Education based on Peace

Education based on Peace

How can we become peacemakers in our everyday lives, right where we are? Anibelka Gómez, from the Dominican Republic, shares her story, showing how education can build human networks that sow beauty for the good of entire communities.

10 years after Laudato Si’ the ‘Amazonia project

10 years after Laudato Si’ the ‘Amazonia project

24 May marks 10 years since the publication of Pope Francis’ Encyclical “Laudato Si”. A moment of celebration, verification of what has been done and to take it up again and make it known to those who are still unaware of its content. Aware that ‘there can be no renewal of our relationship with nature without a renewal of humanity itself’ (LS, 118) we present the ‘Amazonia Project’, as told by two young Brazilians during the Genfest 2024 held in Aparecida, Brazil.