Most performances happen within four walls; this performance was bisected by one.

Award-winning choreographer Ana Maria Alvarez, orchestra musicians and 36 dancers from a variety of youth groups simultaneously performed on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border wall while watching each other through live streams and the gaps in the wall as part of the Binational Arts Residency February 2018.

The Binational Arts Residency, which was created by the ASU School of Film, Dance and Theatre’s Performance in the Borderlands initiative, aims to strengthen the cultural connection between

communities in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico, through artistic endeavors.

“So rather than (the wall) being a split point, we’ve reconceived of it as a connection point,” said Mary Stephens, director of Performance in the Borderlands.

The 2018 residency partners included several Herberger Institute artists, from Projecting All Voices Fellow Yvonne Montoya to School of Art alum Jenea Sánchez.

The performance was part of a 10-day series of workshops and performances from Phoenix to Tucson to the Douglas-Agua Prieta border.