Return Home is an interdisciplinary performance exploring the story of two women as they struggle with issues of identity while living in disconnection from their homeland. In an exploration of her hybrid identity, Dima Alansari’s curiosity about her family roots leads to uncovering a strong connection to her great grandfather Ibrahim Alansari. Now living in Canada, Dima draws parallels between her own historical narrative of occupation and colonization and that of the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island. In both workshops Dima collaborates with Indigenous artists and through physical storyweaving derived from The Arrivals Personal Legacy Process and MT Space’s devising process, she brings forth decades of lost and forgotten stories, metaphors and impressions.

The two women central to the narrative are played by Emilie Monnet, an Anishinaabe Indigenous woman from Quebec living under the legacy of colonization, and Dima Alansari, an indigenous woman from Palestine living in exile. Joining the women on this journey is the Raven, a bringer of magic and transformation played by dancer and choreographer Carlos Rivera, an Indigenous Mixteco from Mexico. It is the Raven who will guide Emilie and Dima in and out of the realms of the imaginary and the real, serving as a mirror to bring about their awakening process. Through his aid, they will discover what each woman has to teach the other and what they can learn about their own identity in relation to the challenges each one faces.

August 6-16 : Performances at The Theatre Centre Mainspace in Toronto
September 26-27 : Performances at IMPACT 15 (International Multicultural Platform for Alternative Contemporary Theatre)

Pictured: Carlos Rivera and Dima Alansari. Photo by Ali H Kheireddine