Songs without Borders from Sole Purpose Productions.
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00:00This is home, where I belong, in this breath, in this heart.
00:19This is home, where I belong, in this voice.
00:27In this song, this is home, where I belong, in this breath, in this heart.
00:54This is home, where I belong, in this voice, in this song.
01:12My name's Patricia Byrne, I'm the Artistic Director of Soul Purpose Productions.
01:16We are based in the Playhouse, but the workshop today, Songs Without Borders,
01:21we're in the Carlisle Road Methodist Church Hall, that's where we are today.
01:25Can you tell me a little bit about Songs Without Borders, what's it about, what's it set up to do?
01:30Songs Without Borders is a way of bringing different people together, different cultures together,
01:35new people that have come to the city, so asylum seekers, refugees, international students,
01:40and local people who have been here for years and years and years, to come together,
01:43to integrate, to mix, and to just enjoy singing together.
01:47Sometimes we sing songs in different languages, we do songs that are kind of easy to learn,
01:53so it's good for people who want to learn English as well, it can help with improving English.
01:57You don't need to be able to sing, just come along, enjoy it, join in, you know, it's for fun.
02:05We're not expecting people to be professional singers or anything, it's for fun and enjoyment,
02:11making connections and meeting new people.
02:14What's it like getting people together? It must be a great feeling to see people come together,
02:19I guess, to hear and support each other, especially people who may come from a difficult situation.
02:24I think it's very welcoming, it's very open, so it helps them to feel welcomed.
02:31Sometimes they might hear a song in their own language, which is very comforting for people to hear that.
02:37A couple of weeks ago we had Refugee Week, and we did what we call a singing circle.
02:43So we had group songs, but we also had individual songs, so people sang.
02:47The theme for Refugee Week was home, our home, so people sang songs, individual songs from home or about their home.
02:56We had a song in Irish, we had a song in Arabic, we had songs in English,
02:59we had a song from Cape Verde, which is a small island off the coast of Africa.
03:03We had a song from Bangladesh, we had a song from the Philippines,
03:07so we had all these different songs in different languages, and it was a really lovely event.
03:11We do a singing circle really just for special occasions.
03:13Usually we're doing group singing together, and we're learning new songs,
03:16and we're just having a nice time together. That's it, basically.
03:24So two dialogues, and then some just simple.
03:28Thank you.
04:28Beautiful.
04:38My name's Shamim Hassan. I am a PhD researcher here, based on Maggie campus, and I'm doing my PhD in drama.
04:49Wow, that was fast. Tell me, why did they call it the Songs Without Borders?
04:55Because I think Songs Without Borders is a great place to meet people, and it's a fun place.
05:04We can share our ideas with each other, and singing is a fun place, that's it.
05:12Do you enjoy singing? Is that why you're doing drama? Is part of your drama maybe musical drama?
05:19Yeah, definitely. I'm very interested in musical drama. Actually, I love songs. That's why I'm here.
05:28Have you made friends coming here?
05:31Yeah.
05:33How long have you been in Derry now?
05:36Just one year. Almost one year. About one year, yeah.
05:41What do you think of Derry?
05:42Very nice place. Very nice place. Particularly people are very nice, lovely, helpful. Yeah, and definitely quiet place.
05:53So I like, I like Derry. I like very much Derry.
06:12In this heart, this is home, where I belong. In this voice, in this song.
06:36Hi, my name is Salam. I am from Yemen. Actually, I'm living now in Derry.
06:42I am now in this class with my friend. We are doing something funny.
06:49We are doing the program. It's named Songs Without Borders.
06:57This program, it is very, very nice and give us more information about different culture.
07:05And we have learned more songs about from areas, from Africa, from South America, from Arab, from Middle East, from everywhere.
07:17Here we are living like a group in family and we sing together and dance together.
07:25And everybody teach each other, take some new information and new habits, new culture.
07:33I am happy because I am a member in this group and I learn every day something new and new.
07:42I am very happy with this, my group. Thank you.
08:12So yeah, my name is Maeve Leahy and we are here in the Methodist Church Hall for Songs Without Borders today.
08:30Which is kind of as it says, for anybody to come, any background, any age, there is no borders for singing.
08:40Can you tell me what your role is in here?
08:42So my role is just to facilitate this happening and bring people together to have fun and socialize and integrate and learn about each other's cultures.
08:53And to make singing accessible to everybody and make it enjoyable.
09:02Can you tell me how you choose the songs?
09:06Good question. That is the trick to it really, is choosing songs that are not too wordy, that are from a range of different backgrounds, different cultures.
09:17So that we are all on the same footing as much as possible, learning a new language.
09:22And that they are fun and that they are varied in the session, so we are not all the same sort of tempo.
09:31Yeah, there is a nice variety to it and I don't choose all of the songs because sometimes people bring their own songs that they want to share.
09:38Which is lovely and which is what it is all about really, is the sharing.
09:42Last question, has there been a clear favourite of all songs?
09:46Well we seem to gravitate to the song called This is Home by Sophie Ethemy.
09:53But no, it is not our favourite but it seems to speak to everybody.
10:02It is about coming home to ourselves and coming home to where we are.
10:08This is a safe place and wherever we are, it is kind of getting away from fear and coming back to ourselves and coming home to ourselves.
10:38Thank you.