Theatre Meets Science in ‘Birth Spaces’ Exploring Childbirth Challenges in Rural Laos

On 21 November, Delivery Areasa efficiency created by anthropologist Pascale Hancart Petitet and theatre director Thiane Khamvongsa, was introduced on the Fanglao BlackBox choreographic heart in Vientiane.

The present, which mixed theatre, dance, and reside music, shared the tales of girls giving beginning in distant areas the place healthcare is proscribed and cultural traditions are sturdy.

The occasion attracted 150 individuals from Laos and around the globe.

Delivery Areas targeted on the energy of those moms and the challenges they face, such because the decline of conventional midwives in rural areas. It additionally raised questions on motherhood, tradition, and energy.

“This play aspires to offer a voice to those girls exterior their speedy village setting, in order that these voices and these tales journey exterior of this house and time” stated director Thiane Khamvongsa. “The central concept of the staging is to interpret, via theater and dancing, the testimonies obtained throughout the ethnologic analysis, and so to recount the cultural heritage of which these practices outcome and handle the dynamics of social relations and energy relations throughout the village.”

This collaboration goals to be a brand new means to share the outcomes of scientific analysis with a broader viewers, past simply tutorial readers.

That is the second time that Lao-French director Thiane Khamvongsa, a Knight of the Order of the Arts and Letters, has created a choreographed theatre efficiency primarily based on the work of PhD anthropologist Pascale Hancart Petitet.

Their earlier venture, Stay with Itcreated 5 years in the past, targeted on analysis by the Institute of Analysis and Improvement and the College of Well being Sciences of Laos. It addressed the social and well being challenges confronted by migrant employees residing with HIV in Laos and toured throughout the nation.

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“Delivery Areas”, directed by Thiane Khamvongsa and primarily based on the work of Pascale Hancart Petitet, is choreographed by Noutnapha Soydala, and carried out by actors and dancers Violette Eeckhout, Thatsanyvanh Louanglath, Noutnapha Soydala, Thiane Khamvongsa and Viengnakhone Xayasone, accompanied by musicians Sinthavong Sengmounthong and Khampanya Lastvong.

This manufacturing was supported by the Pierre Fabre Basis, AUF-Laos, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), and Experience France. “Delivery Areas” can be resumed in Vientiane and tour in Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Pakse in April 2025.