This weekend, on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, COSTA COMPAGNIE will premiere “Conversion/ After Afghanistan” at the Frances Daly Fergusson Theater here on the Vassar College campus. “Conversion/After Afghanistan” is a multi-media performance piece incorporating documentary, contemporary dance and spoken word elements in order to explore the experiences of the Afghan people and of German and American soldiers immediately preceding the end of the NATO-led ISAF mission in 2014.
“[They are] asking the bigger questions, who has the right to tell other people’s stories,” as dancer Saskia Globig ’19 explained. “Can dancers and documentary filmmakers and interviewers accurately represent what people in colonized or attacked nations are feeling? … How should we have compassion? How should we be critical?” Saskia is one of a number of Vassar students from the Dance Department who are lending their time and talents to this collaborative storytelling event.
Other Vassar students are contributing in different ways as well. COSTA COMPAGNIE has incorporated the stories of some of Vassar’s Posse students into the performance for the upcoming premiere.
COSTA COMPAGNIE’s work appears to be collaborative in many ways. Not only have they incorporated the Vassar community, but also many varied forms of art into their performance.
With a subject as nuanced and difficult as this one, it is only natural for COSTA COMPAGNIE to investigate using many points of view and various media. It is also especially topical considering the fairly recent implementation of Vassar College’s Posse Veterans Program.