My Body Remembers What Happened – the Dream City Podcast, Episode 6

Mersiha Mesihovic; photo: Malcolm Betts

As a witness to war and brutality in her native Bosnia, and then as a refugee, Mersiha Mesihovic found solace and a means of creative expression in dance. Despite the wounds of separation from home and family, Mersiha had all the skills to be a great dancer. But the way she moved became an obstacle.

“I struggled a lot in the dance schools and institutions. I feel my body and the story it told wasn’t really in line with what dance is supposed to make us feel, and a lot of times my body was either moving too tense or too big.”

When she arrived in New York (via Sweden and Los Angeles), Mersiha found a way to harness the emotional power of her memories. Her unique approach to movement has attracted other dancers and led her to form Circuit Debris, a dance company which explores her approach to physical storytelling.

Now, Mersiha is confronting the trauma of her past and her struggle for self-liberation in a solo dance piece called BosnianBorn *She is a Refugee Star* which she will perform at BRIC Arts Center in New York, Sep 15-16, 2016.

Listen to other podcasts in the Dream City series including  Mona Escapes , the story of a Filipina’s unexpected arrival in New York City.

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation, an anonymous donor and readers like you.  

AboutJocelyn Gonzales
Jocelyn Gonzales, Technical Director and Senior Producer, is a freelance radio producer in New York City. Her work has been featured on WNYC News, Studio 360, Soundcheck, Marketplace, Weekend America, Sound Money, Radiolab, Musicians Radio, Ear Studio, the Bowery Poetry Club, Minnesota Public Radio, Strange Music and Re:Sound. She was part of the team that created Studio 360, and she was the producer for DishNow Hear This! and The Conversation on WNYC. Jocelyn is a full-time faculty member at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in the sound design department, and was the principal advisor to the campus radio station, WNYU AM/FM, for several years. She is also a podcast producer at The New York Times.