There was something about the Syrian families that drew me to them the most. Having fled the war in Syria in the years 2013–15, they are now living lives of continuous displacement due to climate change, forced to move up to several times a year, moving their tents to where there has been sufficient rainfall to enable crops to grow and for them to find temporary employment.

It’s a cycle with no end in sight while they live in Jordan. They themselves all see how dramatic the changes have been over the last decade, their lives so compromised by the dramatically diminished winter rains. As they said, water is life. And life is getting har.

These are people who lost their homes, their way of life, their communities, their land, everything. Now all they have is each other. It seems to have given them a strength and togetherness in the face of such adversity. There was, is, a grace and humility to them, that perhaps also made them connect more with the principle of the project

III. Human Agency and Ethics of Representation

In working with displaced families, choreography and staging inevitably enter the frame. How do you negotiate agency with your subjects — ensuring that they are not only “portrayed” but also co-authors of their representation?