Horacio Macuacua speaks on “Orobroy, stop!

Mozambique based Choreographer Horacio Macuacua speaks on “Orobroy, stop!” while in Bamako, Mali for Danse l’Afrique Danse 2010. Horacio is one of the winners of “Danse l’Afrique danse” competition and is currently on tour with this piece throughout numerous African countries. I am a big fan of his work and I look forward to seeing more of his poignant choreography in the future. This year I met numerous phenomenal dancers and choreographers from Mozambique so I hope to check out their festival later next year.

Adedeyo Liadi

Nigerian-based choreographer, teacher, and performer Adedeyo Liadi speaks and performs in Nairobi, Kenya as part of the Festival for Solos and Duets organized by Dance Forum-Nairobi.

Opiyo Okach

Choreographer and dancer Opiyo Okach is the director of Gaara Dance Projects. He works between Kenya and France and performs globally. This blog posting includes three interviews with him. Opiyo Okach speaks on his current choreographic projects “Territories in Transgression” and reflects on his previous project “Shift Centre.” In addition he speaks on the Go Down Arts Center, a thriving multidisciplinary arts complex, based in the Industrial Section of Nairobi.

Opiyo Okach- Director of Gaara Dance Projects speaks on his new research and choreography: Territories in Transgression. This video highlights his reflections on the development of this project and dance images from his new work “Border Border Express.”

Interview and dance footage with Kenyan choreographer Opiyo Okach, Artistic Director of Gaara Dance Projects. Opiyo Okach reflects on his project Shift Centre and contemporary dance.

Our meetings with Opiyo took place at the Go Down Arts Center in Nairobi, Kenya where he was an artist in residence for many years. We could see his influence with the next generation of choreographers who were organizing a festival of Solos and Duets at the time we were there; footage excerpts from Dance Forum-Nairobi Festival of Solos and Duets 2010.

Opiyo Okach also influenced the creation of this blog. The impetus for this blog project is from my ten years experience as a cross-cultural choreographer in Africa and North America and the work of African-based choreographers such as Opiyo Okach, who in 2006 said, “The danger that recurs today is that the 
centre should be situated in one place; a place that holds monopoly of truth, a place that proscribes right or wrong, a place that determines good from bad…
Shift…centre… is not just a statement on the aesthetics of space, it is also about political and social reality.”- Okach, Gaara Dance, Kenya.

Fernando Anuagn’a- Kenyan Choreographer/Dancer

Interview with Fernando Anuagn’a solo “Journey to the Future” presented at Danse l’Afrique danse! 2010. His interview is part of BT Dance Project’s Shifting Centers: Dance and Technology in and outside of Africa which highlights current contemporary African dance work throughout various countries in Africa.

Peter John Sabbagha- South African Choreographer

Interview and dance video footage of South African choreographer Peter John Sabbagha and dancers of The Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative that performed an excerpt of “Deep Night” at the Danse l’Afrique Danse 2010 in Bamako, Mali.

The dancers are phenomenal and Peter addresses South African contemporary dance, HIV, sexuality, race, and apartheid in this short interview. This work integrates video installation onstage and Peter addresses this in his interview.

Danse l’Afrique Danse! Mali 2010

Danse l’Afrique Danse in Bamako, Mali 2010

Danse l’Afrique Danse is a platform for African contemporary choreographers- emerging and established. It is a meeting place for choreographers, dancers, presenters, programmers, cultural workers, researchers, and local contemporary dance audiences. It is a competition and launching platform for “new” choreographers where three winners have a pre-programmed tour in fifteen African countries and a European tour.

The 2010 Danse l’Afrique Danse was full of rich performances and exchange. There were over fifty performances- both for concert stage and site-specific works in the Bamako streets. The work ranged from highly physical dance theatre to contemplative installation works; all were engrained with social, personal, and political commentary and messages- at times abstract, at times very specific.

There were panels that discussed the now and future of African contemporary dance as well as feedback sessions for the younger choreographers presenting work. In the evenings we gathered at a local Bamako gathering spot, Rue Princesse to talk, share food, listen to live Malian music, and witness installation projects. The days began at 10am and ended at 4am.

As an America-based choreographer who has attended numerous festivals on the continent, I noticed a larger American, European, and African programming presence than previous years. There is a continued growing interest for contemporary art in Africa. Financing for the Festival came from the French government (Cultures France), The Mali Ministry of Culture, PUMA, and several other organizations. The judging panel consisted of three Africans and four Europeans. There was dialogue amongst the artists about the pros and cons of a contemporary dance competition and the European financing of an African dance competition.

This blog is a continuation of the trace of the powerful and important contemporary dance created by choreographers and dancers from the African continent. We have posted here short video excerpts “traces” that highlight excerpts of work from the Festival.

Respectfully submitted by: Esther Baker-Tarpaga

More than dance from Dakar, Senegal

Part of the Shifting Centers experience is focused on contemporary African dance; yet, in conjunction with this objective, the project is also focused on issues of accessibility, technology, and overall resources available to choreographers and artists in Senegal, Mali, Kenya, and Morocco. Here is a short clip that addresses some of the cultural context we have experienced in Dakar, Senegal.

Photography and post by Kristen Jeppsen Groves