Dancing with life, between Peru and New York | Nelida Silva |TEDxAmazonia

Nelida Silva is a Peruvian dancer who migrated to New York and became a modern urban girl. But she had a dream: to be the patron of the local festival in her small village in the Andes. One day she achieved that dream.

(Peruvian music)

(Applause)

I’m not sure about when dance and movement
turned into a way of life.

I think it was when I learned to walk.

I was born and raised in a small village
in the Andes of Peru.

It’s called Llamellin, it's located
at 3300 m above sea level

and is about a 16 hour drive from Lima.

I grew up with the colors and sounds
of that village,

and they were very different
from what we call civilization.

When I was a child, we had no electricity
and many other things, there was no TV,

but no plastic bottles or trash floating
in the rivers or spread on our fields.

And I did what many young people
from villages just like mine did,

we emigrated to big cities.

We went to cities whose colors and sounds
were different from those we knew.

First I went to Lima and then to New York.

But my passion for dance and music
kept me connected to my people,

my traditions, my roots and rituals.

So I stopped living in my village
but it kept on living inside me.

After living for 15 years in New York,
I returned to Llamellin

to fulfill my dream
that of being the patron

of our local one week festival.

It’s a festival full of traditions
and rituals, we keep to this day,

despite the fact that we own TVs now.

A filmmaker from New York
accompanied me in this trip

and made a documentary about this
called “I come from the Andes.”

After living for 20 years in New York,
I was back in my village, Llamellin

this time ready to share with my people
some of the things I knew and received.

I want to help the women in my region
to improve their standards of living

their economy, and I want to teach them
how to start their own businesses

and get microcredit.

This way, they would be the ones

who can lead their children
to a better life.

I’d like to leave you with a message:

Don’t let those who don’t dream
take your dreams away!

Thank you.

(Applause)