Gilat was always very imaginative in her life. She was able to turn something small, into a very big and beautiful story. It didn’t matter if it was completely true.
She could completely fantasise about it and it made her extremely happy.
I often wondered how my daughter could have such a rich imagination and in fact I only found out after she had already passed away. In fact, it has everything to do with the fact that a rich imagination means a lot of distraction. Especially when you are ill.
When we started our shows, Bart (our creative director) made it clear that it is especially important that the performances are interactive. That way, you stimulate the children’s imagination. At the first shows, a world opened up for me. It was so very special.
Especially children who are confined to a bed or wheelchair deserve to disappear for a while into their own world brimming with fantasy. Their world is really small and they compensate for their immobility by letting their imagination run wild. That is often the only way they can ‘escape’ for a while.
Gilat showed me the importance of distraction through imagination. With the Foundation, we try to further encourage this.
