Lampedusa fine corsa – eng

Inspired by the novel “Don’t Tell Me You’re Afraid” by Giuseppe Catozzella, the show interweaves theater, dance and music to narrate the meeting of cultures, experiences and dreams. Through hybrid artistic languages, “Lampedusa fine corsa” celebrates integration and the power of diversity.

The show tells the story of Somali athlete Samia Yusuf Omar, who in 2008, at the age of 17, participated in the Beijing Olympics competing in the 200-meter flat. With a time of 32 seconds and 16 firsts she finished last in her battery, more than 10 seconds behind the first-place finisher, which in a sprint race is an eternity. Images of this young athlete, in an unlikely race uniform and skinny legs, proudly completing the race despite the gap with the other athletes went around the world.
In short order, Samia became a symbol of women in her country fighting for rights and emancipation.
Deprived of the opportunity to train in Somalia, Samia decided to leave her country in pursuit of her dream as a sportswoman.
On April 2, 2012, at an unspecified spot in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Lampedusa, 21-year-old Samia Ysuf Omar found her death by drowning along with her fellow travelers as a result of the capsizing of the boat she was attempting to reach the Italian coast. Two years later, in 2014, Giuseppe Catozzella’s novel-truth “Don’t Tell Me You’re Afraid,” which tells Samia’s story in a mixture of reality and imagination, was released in Italy.

The show represents a unique and necessary encounter, where people with different histories, cultures and experiences find themselves on the same stage. Fifteen asylum seekers with no previous theater experience work together with actors, dancers and volunteers, creating a dialogue made of movement, dance, music and silences. In this shared space, differences become a resource: new skills are learned, alternative ways of collaborating are experimented with, and a common language is built that overcomes language and cultural barriers. Rehearsals always begin with a time of sharing: sitting in a circle, reflecting on what happened during the week and planning the work. There is no room for pity or do-goodism, only for authenticity of exchanges and the beauty of human connection. This path allows participants, both foreign and Italian, to interact in new ways, mutually enriching their lives