Latvia consistently ranks among the highest in the world for school bullying rates—every third student in Latvia has experienced bullying, ridicule, or violence. The children’s contemporary dance performance “It All Lives Within Us” explores this topic, attempting to show the perspectives of both sides involved and offering the assertion that each of us, influenced by various circumstances, could have been both a victim or a perpetrator; however, it is within our power to decide how to act. It is a story about the transformation of conflict and human separation into true understanding and unity, seeking answers to questions—how to accept others, how to defend the weak, how to learn from one’s mistakes, and how to ask for forgiveness?
CAST & TEAM
Cast
Students of the Dance Department of the Ādaži Region School of Arts
Director
Emīls Alps
Choreographer
Karīna Lapšina
Producer
Emīls Alps
Musical Accompaniment
Tomass Ančs, Marta Balode, Ernests Ervīns Dovgāns
The director of the performance, Emīls Alps, for whom this is the first experience in stage directing, emphasizes the challenges and benefits of depicting the chosen theme: “It is rare to have the opportunity to speak about such essential and sensitive topics as bullying, acceptance, and empathy through children’s stage performance—directly and without mediation. For the children participating in this production, not much time has passed for them to be able to view these experiences from the outside. However, bullying is one of the strongest memories of my own personal school experience. Therefore, it seemed natural to let children play children on stage, and for me to get to know the world of contemporary dance for the first time through this work, to speak about the painful experience of my school years.”
In the performance, the students themselves “speak” about this experience—students of the Dance Department of the Ādaži Region School of Arts aged 10 to 15 take the stage, revealing their experience through the movement language created by choreographer Karīna Lapšina. The production is complemented by live original music accompaniment performed by Tomass Ančs (cello), Marta Balode (piano), and Ernests Ervīns Dovgāns (drums).
