19 April, Teatro Munganga, Amsterdam
A performance of poetry, spoken word, music and dance, to talk about a lived experience of pregnancy with the disease of hyperemesis.
How to remain connected to life and motherhood, when death feels very near?
In this story, I fall under the spell of hyperemesis to be left undone. Layers after layers, my shields are retreating: first my clothes (what was I naked); then my strength (could I ever walk again?); then my pride (my guts inside out, even my skin was gone). All what is left are bones. We meet in the corner. I first thought they were death, but what they carry is life. Between us, no words. Only sounds remain. As the days grew lighter, their whisper became song. Bearing witness, they guided my breath to find a language to speak of a space where the gods come to life, taking on many shapes and wearing many names.