The Coffee Dance documentary explores the undying spirit of the women of La Carpio, Costa Rica. La Carpio is a very poor neighborhood often looked down up and scorned. Extreme poverty is rampant and many of the people living in crowded community of an estimated 24,000 people are immigrants from Nicaragua. Though poverty and difficult circumstances could take these women down with despair, this group stands up and learns to unite in order to give to those even poorer than themselves. The women, with the help of Gail Nystrom and The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation decide to put on a play. They enlist the help of theater director Steven Hawkins of Dramatic Problem Solving to write and perform a play that raises awareness between women coffee pickers on industrial coffee plantations and breast cancer, and the importance of health care.
In a community center funded by the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, the women meet and begin writing a script in the hopes that their play can become a vehicle to bring change to the conditions facing women coffee pickers. The documentary follows the women for a year as they learn aspects of theater. And as the script develops, another story arises about the La Carpio women themselves. As the story unfolds we see a rough draft develop into a polished play. Over the course of a year, the women the travel throughout Costa Rica to educate the public about the importance of health care, especially concerning the early detection of breast cancer. In the process, the women themselves are changed.
The documentary intertwines not only the story about the women through the creation of a play, but also the film follows three of the women into their homes to see and hear what it is like for them to live day in and day out in the community of La Carpio where food scarcity and violence are often normal aspects of their lives. In the end, we see the women change in empowering ways. Though their struggles will continue, their actions have planted seeds of hope and new beginnings.
The documentary also includes footage about how complicated the coffee crop is to grow and harvest and the vulnerabilities of those who work in the chemically laden plantations; a process that weaves together commerce with the lives of those it touches. The coffee cup we pick up so easily at the corner on the way to work is often taken for granted. Those that pick the bean are subject to increased risks of cancer for a day’s price often less than a few cups of coffee.
In the end, we see the women change. They've found a bit of themselves and lifted up to a higher place by giving to others. Though their struggles will continue, the seeds of hope and new beginnings has been planted.
In a community center funded by the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, the women meet and begin writing a script in the hopes that their play can become a vehicle to bring change to the conditions facing women coffee pickers. The documentary follows the women for a year as they learn aspects of theater. And as the script develops, another story arises about the La Carpio women themselves. As the story unfolds we see a rough draft develop into a polished play. Over the course of a year, the women the travel throughout Costa Rica to educate the public about the importance of health care, especially concerning the early detection of breast cancer. In the process, the women themselves are changed.
The documentary intertwines not only the story about the women through the creation of a play, but also the film follows three of the women into their homes to see and hear what it is like for them to live day in and day out in the community of La Carpio where food scarcity and violence are often normal aspects of their lives. In the end, we see the women change in empowering ways. Though their struggles will continue, their actions have planted seeds of hope and new beginnings.
The documentary also includes footage about how complicated the coffee crop is to grow and harvest and the vulnerabilities of those who work in the chemically laden plantations; a process that weaves together commerce with the lives of those it touches. The coffee cup we pick up so easily at the corner on the way to work is often taken for granted. Those that pick the bean are subject to increased risks of cancer for a day’s price often less than a few cups of coffee.
In the end, we see the women change. They've found a bit of themselves and lifted up to a higher place by giving to others. Though their struggles will continue, the seeds of hope and new beginnings has been planted.
