Amal means “hope” in Arabic. Little Amal is a 3.5-meter doll representing a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl looking for a better tomorrow. Since 2021, the heroine of The Walk project has become a global symbol of human rights, especially refugee rights.

Since July 2021, Amal has visited 160 cities and towns in 16 countries, and two million people have greeted her on the streets of the world, tens of millions have followed her travels online. 440 events have been created for Amal, unique to each community she visits, with the participation of thousands of artists and local leaders. She will visit Poznań on the occasion of the new opening of the Malta Festival.

Michael Wamaya is a dancer and activist, nominated for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize, who, thanks to his talent and determination, broke out of the Kenyan slums. Although his career has gained momentum and he could keep conquering the world, he decided to return to Kenya to give children what allowed him to free himself. Dance. Now he runs Project Elimu, an art school where children from Kibera – one of the largest slums in the world – learn ballet. Dance gives them dignity, education and self-confidence, which allow them to break out of a difficult environment.

Mike Wamaya and a group of his charges will come to the Malta Festival at the invitation of Dominika Kulczyk as part of the celebrations of the 11th anniversary of the Kulczyk Foundation. The Kenyan will lead daily, free afrodance classes at the Polish Dance Theatre (9am, 9-13/09). As part of their visit to Poznań, the group will meet theirpeers from the Poznań General Ballet School, participate in dance classes with PTT, perform in the Sun&Sea project, and above all, invite Poznań and Little Amal to a dance happening in the Old Market Square.