Bastidores de M de Manifesto (‘Behind the Scenes of M de Manifesto’) is an outreach initiative that takes the performers of the show M de Manifesto into classrooms in the days leading up to each performance. It is aimed at secondary school classes, though it can also be adapted for upper primary or higher education groups.
In a conversational performance that blends music, spoken word and movement, the four artists raise questions about feminism, the experience of being a woman and the preconceptions that continue to shape how these issues are understood. Building on these ideas, group activities are facilitated to encourage participants to reflect, question and engage in critical thinking, within a space for sharing that also welcomes personal experiences and perspectives.
From these proposals emerge choruses of words which are recorded during the activity and incorporated at a specific moment in the show. The participants’ voices thus become part of the performance, reinforcing the collective dimension of the experience.
At the end of the performance, a discussion is encouraged between the artists and the young people, establishing a link between the issues raised during the mediation session and what the participants saw on stage. The discussion provides an opportunity to share feelings, interpretations and questions raised by the performance, enabling them to relate this experience to the reflections begun in the classroom.
Bastidores de M de Manifesto fosters a close relationship between artists and participants and creates, within the classroom, a space for reflection and critical thinking on feminism, its meanings and the issues it continues to raise.