PerFare’s pilot actions are starting to roll now: some have been going on for weeks already and some others are just starting, but in every PerFare country there is a little seed planted.

Two new projects have joined the curriculum: Stories from the bodily archive, taking place in Malmö (Sweden), and All the colors of the day, carried out in Macerata (Italy). Let’s have a look.

 

Stories from the bodily archive – Malmö

Stories from the bodily archive is a project for elders with dementia in a care home in Malmö, Sweden, curated by Plattform för Improvisation och Somatik.

The aim of the sessions is to enhance movement, joy and connection. With different somatic practices like mirroring, images, props and circle dance we strive for opening each and everyone’s own movement archive. To acknowledge and mirror spontaneous movements has been our focus. Specifically working with social engagement in dance has increased the capacity for keeping up energy and finding new movement patterns.

The project also worked with body memory of rhythms and dance movement from earlier stages in life. The potential behind a body bringing back memories of movement capacity of a younger self is incredible. Reconnections can be made which has a ripple effect in the everyday life for the elders.

 

Frames from the project “Stories from the bodily archive” in a state care home in Malmö, Sweden.

All the colors of the day – Macerata

This project intends to put the languages ​​and skills of the performing arts at the service of situations of social hardship, with the aim of enhancing oneself and the relationship with others, with a targeted proposal for the Piombini-Sensini Community in Macerata.
The artistic intervention – created by the cultural association Rovine Circolari – is freely inspired by the story of a group of children of different nationalities and cultures who grow up in the peripheral area of ​​a large city, in contact with a varied and unpredictable human fauna, full of love but also forced to struggle to overcome the difficulties of everyday life. The relationship that is established between one of them and the children’s guardian will reveal a deep attachment that overcomes cultural differences.

Specifically, the intent of the project is to involve all participants – from children to adults, with difficult social and family backgrounds – through the languages ​​of performance, to outline a short collective performance. The objective is not so much the perfection of the scenic result (although the experimentation of performative languages ​​could also prove to be an interesting area of ​​discovery and professional knowledge), but rather the bringing into play of one’s own creativity, starting from a story, and the sharing of the creative process in all its phases, to arrive at the construction of a collective story, to be offered as a restitution of the path followed.

In fact, central to this path is the creation of groups for practical-performative work, which brings into play the bodies and voices, the use of space, the creative expression and imagination of the participants under the guidance of the artistic operators.

Listening training, creative play, awareness of one’s own body and voice, the ability to build and inhabit a performative montage that tells a story, in narrative but also physical and visual form, constitute tools for enhancing self, communicative comfort and psycho-physical well-being.

 

News from Portugal: PerFare influences the wellbeing of social and health workers too

The project Aqui contigo – Sound as Last Lap by SAMP, taking place in Pombal (Portugal) has gathered some very interesting feedback. The pilot action impacts not only the direct beneficiaries of the artistic intervention, in this case being the patients of the Pombal District Hospital, but also the health and social professionals taking care of them and, in general, the whole hospital atmosphere.
As a matter of fact, the positive outcome is clearly visible after the first months: people in chronic conditions are able to relieve somatic pain thanks to music, while professionals are stating that the project helped to soften the constant daily pressure and favored a sense of well-being in the work environment.

Here is a statement from Alexandra Teixeira, Specialist Nurse and member of the Humanization Committee:

The project Aqui Contigo (Here With You), developed by SAMP at Pombal District Hospital, represents a transformative encounter between music and healthcare. This initiative transcended the conventional hospital environment and created a space for humanisation, welcome and connection through musical art.
We believe that the impact on the patients was profound and heart-warming. Music proved to be a powerful vehicle for emotional relief, easing tensions and anxieties associated with the hospital environment. Many described feelings of calm, comfort and even joy, even during challenging times such as hospitalisation. Music helped transform hospital rooms into spaces of serenity, where emotions could be experienced more lightly and less seriously.
For the professionals, the music helped to soften the constant daily pressure and favoured a sense of well-being in the work environment. In addition, we believe that it brought the professionals closer to the human dimension of the patients and strengthened the bond, promoting greater empathy and sensitivity in care.
Being able to take part in this project has contributed to a deeper understanding of the direct impact of music in hospital environments. We realised how sounds and musical harmony can create bridge between art and medicine, promoting a holistic approach to care.
Being able to take part in this project has contributed to a deeper understanding of the direct impact of music in hospital environments. We realised how sounds and musical harmony can create bridges between art and medicine, promoting a holistic approach to care.
One of the main challenges was to somehow change mentalities. Adapting the presence of music to an environment as sensitive and dynamic as a hospital can seem like a difficult task, and it’s necessary to balance the intensity of the musical interventions with the patients’ routines and rest. This was overcome after the first week of the project. The professionalism and sensitivity of the SAMP musicians clearly contributed to its acceptance.
The adaptation of repertoires to the hospital context combined with the empathy and emotion in each intervention made Aqui Contigo (Here With You) the highlight and most eagerly awaited moment of the week.

For the future, we hope that Aqui Contigo (Here With You) can expand its reach, both in terms of the number of beneficiaries and the area it covers. We believe in an even greater partnership between music and therapeutic practices, with the development of protocols that value art as an integral part of holistic healthcare, inspiring other institutions to embrace this initiative as an essential tool for humanisation.
Finally, we hope that Aqui Contigo (Here With You) continues to touch lives, chanting hope and well-being wherever music finds a heart that needs to hear it.

The project “Aqui Contigo – Sound as Last Lap” in Pombal District Hospital, Portugal – ph: Pedro Jafuno.

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