What do Norwegian fish cakes, Turkish folk dance and shadow theatre have in common? They were all the part of the exciting mix of performances at the Grand Final of the ‘Do you speak European?’ competition.
By: Sviatlana Dzenisevich & Yannick Brusselmans
Can you imagine a Romanian girl talking to an Italian cook, posing for a French painter, listening to a German professor speaking about his invention and chatting with an English woman, all within 5 minutes? You are right, it’s not such a common picture, but it’s possible when young people gather and apply their power and will to building and expressing their European identity.
The well-known tune of Beethoven’s ‘Ode and die Freude’, the EU’s official anthem, opened the colourful event, after which 11 teams of youngsters – all national winners within their home country – brought their own ode to Europe to the stage at the historical Halles Saint-Géry in the heart of Brussels.
European fairy tale
The UK kicked off the competition with a lively and inspiring debate between a Euro-sceptic and a group of EU enthusiasts, who finally manage to convince their sceptical compatriot of the EU’s value through sound and reasonable argumentation.
The Croatian team caught the spectators’ attention by bringing a “European fairy tale” to life through shadow theatre. In a pure yet playful manner they conveyed the idea that Croatian reality is far from a fairy tale and that democratic values still have to be improved in the small Adriatic state.
The French delegates approached different European programs through a small role play of an Irish tourist lost in France.
Hungary involved the audience in a lesson where all the pupils were living in different countries, nevertheless sharing the same values of democracy, human rights and sustainability in the European Union.
Extended family
The merry atmosphere created by the Moldovan participants, who brought among others a Spanish flamenco dancer and a dandy from London to the stage, was aimed at creating a symbiosis of the different cultures of the European Union, including Moldova, which eventually becomes immortal.
Norway realized that the way to the heart is through the stomach and approached the abstract question ‘What does Europe mean to you?’ through a photo story focusing on Norwegian food and how it was influenced by other European cuisines through the years.
The Portuguese delegates, hailing from Madeira, emphasised the European value of creativity through song, photo slides and dance. Their Romanian colleagues ‘visited’ several European countries in turn, resulting in a cultural exchange where both Romanian and other European countries learn something new about each other. The closing dance on the tunes of the Sister Sledge hit ‘We are family’ illustrated the exchange of ideas within Europe’s extended family.
Full picture
The idea of mobility and learning from other European cultures was not just depicted on stage. All the while during the performances the venue was bustling with young visitors looking for opportunities to broaden their horizon through European mobility schemes. Information stands of the European Commission, the Youth in Action programme, AER’s Eurodyssee internship project, the Erasmus student exchange programme and many other organisations informed the youngsters about all the different European job, internship and study opportunities out there. Jimmy Jamar from the European Commission’s DG Employment stressed in his speech to the participants that ‘mobility is one of the rights that is given to everybody. It helps you to look into your future in another way.’
Back on stage, the Swedish participants presented the ideas of environment and protection of animals in a regional context through short speeches. ‘Human beings are not better than animals’, they argued.
A very impressive and sincere performance came from Turkey. In a silent play, the participants depicted the numerous attempts of Turkey to join the European Union. Unlike the present situation, everything ends happily in this performance – Turkey joins the Union and both gains a lot from other countries as well as shares its national values.
The Belgian team concluded the competition with an energetic and comical performance in which they addressed such important but unglamorous issues as gender equality, the state of immigrants’ rights, Islam phobia and unemployment, interlacing them with jokes.
After a long and fruitful day it seemed like all the pieces of the European mosaic were put together to create a harmonic and full picture of the continent and its people. The fact that it was the young generation that voiced their values made it all the more important. But of course there is no competition without a winner. Even though it was not an easy decision for the jury, they decided to award the winner’s award to the ‘home team’ from Brussels, who – much in line with their performance – accepted their award with bundles of energy and excitement.
Asked for the message they wanted to get across with their short play, the winning team – who are all involved in a theatre project of the Brussels youth centre Interpôle – declared in unison that above all their message is one of “equality, between men and women, different nationalities, religions and cultures.”
