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AMAL WALKS ACROSS AMERICA
The Walk Productions in association with Handspring Puppet Company
Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director
David Lan and Tracey Seaward, producers
September 17, 2023, 3:00 p.m.
Walk from Black Lives Matter Plaza to Franklin Park
FREE EVENT
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“Little Amal is 3.5 metres tall because we want the world to grow big enough to greet her. We want her to inspire us to think big and to act bigger.” – Amir Nizar Zuabi, Artistic Director of The Walk
A global symbol of compassion and human rights, Little Amal is the 12-foot puppet portraying a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child who has traveled through 13 countries and been welcomed by more than a million people on the streets since 2021. Her immersive walking journeys highlight the cross-cultural experiences of the millions of refugee children fleeing war, violence, and persecution globally, each with their own story. Accompanied in Washington, D.C., by outdoor music performances curated by Washington Performing Arts and featuring Mars Arts D.C. artists, Amal’s walking journeys are festivals of hope, showcasing the power of compassionate welcome as strangers build stable homes in new lands, and the contributions and potential they carry within them that enhances communities as they do so.
On September 17, the hour-long interactive walk from Black Lives Matter Plaza to Franklin Park features live bands, go-go music by the Blacc Print Experience, the Washington Performing Arts Children of the Gospel Choir, Eastern High School marching band, James Murphy, and other Mars Arts D.C. artists. You also will hear performances by The ADAMS Beat Chorus—a Muslim children's choir curated by our partners at the Shakespeare Theatre Company—and experience a festival-like atmosphere at Franklin Park with activity stations, food vendors, free passes to explore Planet Word, and more.
Presented in collaboration with DowntownDC BID, Events DC, Franklin Park, Golden Triangle BID, Planet Word, and Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Mars Arts D.C. is a partnership of Mars, Incorporated and Washington Performing Arts, with support from Jacqueline Badger Mars.
This event is made possible through the generous support of Events DC.
This is one of fourteen 2023-24 season performances included in Washington Performing Arts’s The World in Our City initiative, which promotes cross-cultural understanding and cultural diplomacy via the presentation of international visiting artists, globally inspired local programming, and the award-winning Embassy Adoption Program, a partnership with D.C. Public Schools.
Special thanks to the following lead supporters of Washington Performing Arts’s mission-driven work: Jacqueline Badger Mars and Mars, Incorporated; D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities; and the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts.
