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08

Apr

Landfill Harmonic: Sounds of Life-Changing Experiences

by Janine Boylan on April 8, 2013

Landfill Harmonic orchestra, illustrating life-changing experiences

Recycled Orchestra members Maria, Nohelia, and Tania
© Landfill Harmonic

A Story That Goes Beyond Film

Last fall, a documentary trailer about the Paraguayan children’s Recycled Orchestra went viral. The musical group is made up of youth who were raised on the Cateura city landfill; their music teacher is using brilliantly-designed recycled instruments to provide them with life-changing experiences.

If you haven’t seen this trailer, you must take a few minutes to do so. If you have seen it, it is worth watching again.

If video does not display, watch it here.

Without Favio Chávez, the orchestra leader, these children might be caught up in a continuous whirlwind of alcoholism, drugs, and crime on a garbage heap. Instead, these talented, devoted children have a chance to rise from their bleak backgrounds and travel the world to share their skills.  Read more...

 

Making a Difference/On the World Stage/Paraguay/The World's Music

18

Oct

How a Paris Mime Made Me See Things Differently

by Meredith Mullins on October 18, 2012

eyes of Paris mime seeing things differently

Eyes of a Paris mime
© Meredith Mullins

Street Sweeper or Zen Master?

Street Sweeper. Silent Statue. Performance Artist. Zen Master. The character poised on the Pont St Louis (a “bridge with a view” across the Seine in Paris) could be any or all of these. He stands suspended in mid-sweep, as the flowing crowd passes around him.

Some bridgegoers glance at the silver sweeper and smile at the surprising oddity of it all. Some stop for a moment and stare, waiting for a sign that he is real, a twitch of his little finger or a silver blink. Yet, he remains frozen in time.  Read more...

 

France (Paris)/On the World Stage

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