Little Amal is at once a social activist movement and perhaps the world’s largest traveling art festival.
The 12-foot puppet, built of cane and carbon fiber, portrays a 10-year-old Syrian refugee, and represents all of the other hundreds of thousands of refugees in the world, half of whom are children.
Starting in June 2021, the puppet traveled 5,000 miles through 85 cities in Europe, meeting 1 million children and adults, including Pope Francis. This September she began a 37-city, 6,000-mile American tour that will bring her to Atlanta Oct. 8 and 10.
Credit: Steve Eberhardt
Credit: Steve Eberhardt
Everywhere Little Amal’s team travels they collaborate with arts organizations. In Atlanta, Amal will chase illuminated monarch butterflies created by Chantelle Rytter’s Lantern Parade krewe; she will dance with Lauri Stallings and the Glo ensemble; and she will join a parade down Peachtree Street with the South Atlanta High School drumline and young singers from the Global Village Project, the Clarkston school dedicated to educating refugee girls.
“I think that we’re part of a global mediation,” said Stallings, “the art of transforming suffering into happiness.”
Amal (and her troupe) will meet Stallings and her ensemble Tuesday at the Center for Civil and Human Rights, where the dancers will include three dozen children from Harper Archer Elementary School.
Later that day Amal will appear at the Decatur MARTA station, in a procession joined by the Black Sheep Ensemble, youngsters from Moving in the Spirit, and singers from the DeKalb School of the Arts chorus.
In all there will be six events on Oct. 8 and 10 as the puppet makes her way around the city. (Monday is a day off.)
Credit: The Walk Productions
Credit: The Walk Productions
There is scant opportunity to rehearse ahead of time with Amal. Before her group reaches Atlanta they will be in St. Louis and in Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“I’ll see her a few hours before, not five weeks, not multiple rehearsals, none of that,” said Stallings. “It is very, very terrifying, in the best kind of way.”
But arts leaders take these performances seriously. “This means as much as any show that runs on our stage,” said Chris Moses, artistic director of the Alliance Theatre, who is coordinating more than 100 performers in the “We Have a Dream” parade that begins at the Woodruff Arts Center. Joining Amal in that parade is Yolanda King, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter.
Little Amal is based on a character from a 2018 play, “The Jungle,” about a French refugee camp.
Londoner David Lan, the producer of “The Jungle,” wanted to dramatize the journey of the refugee, and needed a character to voice that saga. He decided to let Little Amal tell their story. But she would do it without speaking. She would simply retrace their steps in an outdoor drama. And Little Amal would be a giant puppet. “The paradox was attractive,” said Lan, speaking from St. Louis.
In 2021 a producing company called The Walk Productions, with artistic director Amir Nizar Zuabi, set Little Amal (and her four puppeteers) on a journey from the Syrian border to Manchester, England.
The puppet itself, with its solemn face and expressive eyes, was built by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, which also created the near-life-size horse puppet that was featured in the stage play “War Horse.”
With significant support from the Doris Duke Foundation, the Bezos Family Foundation and others, The Walk Productions is intended to be “a celebration of art, hope and shared humanity,” according to their mission statement. Their traveling show “aims to unite communities and refocus attention on the urgent needs of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers, and to highlight the rich cultures and contributions immigrants bring with them.”
Credit: The Walk Productions
Credit: The Walk Productions
The group visits communities where they are invited, and makes a point of traveling to significant locales, such as the Boston Common and the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama.
The excitement generated by a visit from Amal is enhanced by the art happenings created by her collaborators. At twilight on Sunday a crowd of 100 volunteers will join puppet master Chantelle Rytter near Ponce City Market for an allegorical performance featuring hand-made monarch butterflies.
Monarch butterflies move through Atlanta during their yearly migration, and like refugees are often invisible, said Rytter.
“It’s Amal’s message that we need to not forget that there are refugee children that need our attention and care in the world,” said Rytter. “They seem to pass by unnoticed.”
As Amal walks along the Beltline through a host of lighted butterfly puppets, the aerial performers from Liquid Sky will portray a species of wasp that preys on monarchs, adding an element of danger to the performance. There will be music from Mausiki Scales & the Common Ground Collective. (Onlookers can create their own butterfly puppets from a pattern available on Rytter’s website. )
Rytter was delighted with the challenge. “I’ve never tried to choreograph a hundred puppeteers before.”
EVENT PREVIEW
Little Amal Walks Across America; during her visit to Atlanta she will be part of six events; all are free.
Sunday, Oct. 8
“Seven Lanes,” 10 a.m.; Amal attempts to cross Buford Highway; she is assisted by the Atlanta Chinese Dance Company and others; 3268 Buford Highway NE, Atlanta.
“We Have a Dream,” 3 p.m.; Amal meets Yolanda King, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s granddaughter, at a parade featuring the South Atlanta High School drum line, starting from the piazza at the Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.
“Chasing Monarch Butterflies,” 6:30 p.m.; Amal follows a crowd of animated hand-made monarchs, on the Beltline at Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE, ending at Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark, 830 Willoughby Way NE, Atlanta.
Tuesday, Oct. 10
“A Clay Vessel,” 2 p.m.; Amal visits the Center for Civil and Human Rights, 100 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd. NW, Atlanta.
“One Thing to Take,” 5 p.m.; Amal loses her one toy, a stuffed dog; the Black Sheep Ensemble, Moving in the Spirit, and DeKalb School of the Arts chorus help her find it, in collaboration with Flux Projects, Center for Puppetry Arts, Decatur Arts Alliance and MARTA Artbound; 400 Church St., Decatur.
“This Ancient Land,” 6:30 p.m.; Amal is invited to a ceremony with the Mvskoke (or Muscogee) Nation; Brownwood Park Pavilion, 602 Brownwood Ave. SE, Atlanta.
Information: walkwithamal.org
The events are free and the public is invited to walk along with Amal. To help make a difference, The Amal Fund with Choose Love supports displaced children across the world. Donations: chooselove.org/theamalfund
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