Shows in theater

Ẹlàbọrù – Jelili Atiku (Nigeria)

The film Ẹlàbọ́rù is a performance based film and references to the present circumstance in the world. The COVID 19 pandemic has exerted a heavy toll worldwide, especially on healthcare professionals. Jelili Atiku is an artist that uses his body as a medium in his performances. It becomes indispensable for him to go through rigorous immune health care. Ẹlàbọ́rù is a personal journey of the artist in the process of using the Yoruba indigenous methods/rituals of  building body immune system against pandemic diseases. This film has been part of a live stream programme from theatre De Balie on 10 October. The making of this film has been supported by Afro_Vibes Festival.

Concept and performance Jelili Atiku / Nigeria / 2020/ 15 mins

THE MOVIE ẸLÀBỌRÙ IS STILL TO BE SEEN HERE VIA  DE BALIE TV

A Faint Patch of Light – Qondiswa James (Zuid-Afrika)

A Faint Patch of Light is a story about the love and entanglement between two black women on the night before their violent death. The performance is an adaptation of Athol Fugard's 'Statements After a Arrest under the Immorality Act' (1972). It reveals the struggle of the black lesbian and queer community in the South African townships. Two women in bed, nude and naked and vulnerable share their hope, fear and love in their last night while their perpetrators stand in front of their house and call them outside. 

Director Qondiswa James / South Africa / 2020 /50 mins

Performed and filmed in a theater in Cape Town for Afro_Vibes Festival because actors and director could not travel to the Netherlands due to corona travel restrictions. On 9 October this film has been live streamed from Theater De Balie in Amsterdam.

THE FULL MOVIE IS STILL TO BE SEEN HERE VIA  De Balie TV

I Listen You See – Hamdi Didri (Tunisia)

Tunisian choreographer and hip-hop dancer Hamdi Dridi was inspired for his new performance by the everyday movements of working people in Tunisia. He examines how our cultural baggage and history is part of our daily life and becomes visible through our behaviour and gestures. In this performance Didri turns our habits and behaviour into dance.

Three Tunisian dancers pay a tribute to the everyday actions, movements and behavior of working people - all through dance. Three men who meet, three paths of life, unique sounds, images and memories that intersect. In their meeting, they create a magical place in which their daily movements and routines merge into dance that makes the beauty of those routines and the culture these men share visible. Hamdi Dridi creates a dance performance in which he shares a hidden heritage that still lives in everyday actions and gestures of the people in his home country, Tunisia. ‘In our country you are never alone, you always work next to it. We build houses, we clean and we sell things’. Hamri Didri

Choreography en music: Hamdi Dridi Dansers
Dancers: Houcem Bouakroucha, Hamdi Dridi, Feteh Khiari
Soundscape: Christophe Zurfluh
Lightscape: William Petit
Duration: 50 min

AMSTERDAM | COMPAGNIETHEATER
Thu 1 Oct 19H00. Info and tickets online: www.compagnietheater.nl/dag-1 and at the door
Fri 2 Oct 19H30. Info en tickets online: www.compagnietheater.nl/dag-2 and at the door

ROTTERDAM | MAASPODIUM
Tue 6 Oct 20H15
Tickets online  https://www.maastd.nl/voorstelling/listen/  and by calling 010-200 25 09

AMSTERDAM | PODIUM MOZAIEK
Wed 7 Oct, 19H30 & 21H30
Tickets online www.podiummozaiek.nl

La Meute (Wolfpack) - Babacar Cissé (Senegal)

La Meute (Wolfpack) is a dance journey by Senegalese choreographer Babacar Cissé to the heart of human relationships, group dynamics and to human nature. "Homo homini lupus est" - a man is a wolf to his fellow men. Words of Thomas Hobbes, one of the founders of modern European political thought which is still guiding how we often view human interactions. Wolves and humans. We find the alpha, the dominant human; the beta, who leads the pack; and the omega, the scapegoat. Everyone is forced to take his place, to conform to the rules. The question is: do we integrate or emancipate? As a hip-hop choreographer, Babacar Cissé knows how to connect the individual expressions of his dancers with the power of collective movement. It seems like a paradox: individual freedom versus collective interest. In La Meute (Wolfpack), he seeks the tension between the two.  

"Hip-hop dance is about individual strength of the body. In La Meute I work with plexiglass on the floor that forces a different movement language on my dancers. I take the expressiveness of pure hip-hop to another level, to the relationship with the other ". Babacar Cissé

Concept, choreography and dance: Babacar Cissé
Dancers: Andy Andrianasol, Damien Bourletsis, Hugo Ciona, Jordan Malfoy, Anthony Mezence, Maxime Vicente
Light: Stéphane Lesauce
Duration 60 min

AMSTERDAM | COMPAGNIETHEATER
Sat 3 Oct 19H00.  Info and tickets online www.compagnietheater.nl and at the door
Sat 3 Oct 21H30.  Info and tickets online www.compagnietheater.nl and at the door

Le Syndrome de l'Exilé - Babacar Cissé (Senegal)

The Senegalese choreographer Babacar Cissé made a dance performance about exile. Exile is when you are forced to leave your birth country, because of punishment, fear or necessity. Some exiles are overwhelmed by the pain of leaving, others hope for a better future. Their stories touch us, regardless of their origin. Maybe that’s because we are all in exile in one way or the other, more or less disconnected from our birthplace or we’ve been forced to leave in our hearts. The syndrome of exile is the realization that exile is always a spiritual process, that you not only leave behind a place but also a part of yourself.

‘The body is a language. Dance stands for life, it is a path to the other, to en event. Dance exposes the poetry of feeling. I created this solo based on this amazement.’ Babacar Cissé

Concept, choreography and dance: Babacar Cissé
Light: Antoine Auger
Video: Antoine Mortoire
Duration 60 min

ROTTERDAM | MAASPODIUM
Wed 7 Oct, 21H00
Tickets online  https://www.maastd.nl/voorstelling/syndrome/  and by calling 010-200 25 09

UTRECHT | STADSSCHOUWBURG
Fri 9 Oct, 20H30
Tickets online www.stadsschouwburg-utrecht.nl and by calling 030-230 20 23

Symphony of 2020 - DOX & ArtBeat Amsterdam and Batalo East Uganda

We live in a world where dancing together is no longer self-evident. But the need to party and celebrate life is great. In a legal corona proof rave, ten dancers bring you into a hypnotic trance with constant electronic music. Symphony of 2020 is a dance performance with influences from the Ugandan music scene. Let yourself be carried away from your seat and feel the energy!  

A mix of European and African music styles take you to a world, where dancing makes transcendence possible. A dance performance, where body boundaries blur and dance and spiritual experiences can become one. The performance is part of a two-year collaboration between DOX, Batalo East, ArtBeat Amsterdam and Afro_Vibes. In 2019, the Ugandan makers of Batalo East came to the Netherlands. Together with DOX they made the audience dance together in the half-an-hour dance performance - Symphony of Now. In autumn of 2020, the performance will return in an adapted version as Symphony of 2020: with the dancers on the floor and you in a chair at a safe corona-proof distance.

This performance is made in interactive ZOOM sessions between choreographers Abdul Kinyenya, Lilian Nabaggala Maxmillian and Faizal Ddamba from Batalo East and Melvin Fraenk, Çağdas Gülum, Anne Suurendonk and Tom van Wee from DOX & ArtBeat Amsterdam.

Choreography: Melvin Fraenk, Çağdas Gülum  Anne Suurendonk (DOX & ArtBeat Amsterdam) and Abdul Kinyenya, Lilian Nabaggala Maxmillian (Batalo East).
Music: Tom van Wee (DOX & ArtBeat Amsterdam) and Faizal Ddamba (Batalo East)  
Dance: DOX performers Gaby Berger, Joey Coenders, Roberta Ceginskaite, Denzel van Russel, Elke Thelissen, Kelsey van Oers, Ruben Tamminga, Darion Thompson, Vaiva Paukste, Mihai Pruna en Janiro Ottens
Coproduction: DOX, Batalo East, ArtBeat Amsterdam en Afro_Vibes
Duration: 45 min

AMSTERDAM | COMPAGNIETHEATER
Thu 1 Oct, 21H00
Info and tickets: www.compagnietheater.nl/day-1 and at the theater

ROTTERDAM | KUNSTHAL
Sun 4 Oct, 12H30 & 15H00
Info and Tickets: http://kunsthal.nl/afrovibes2020

UTRECHT | TIVOLIVREDENBURG
Sat 10 Oct, 20H00
Info and Tickets: www.tivolivredenburg.nl

Future For The Past - Jennifer Tosch, Katy Streek (Sites of Memory)

A journey through time to the collective colonial past of the Netherlands and South Africa. Artists from both countries translate their vision into song, poetry, dance, visual art and theater. During an interactive walk live performances are interspersed with 360 degree videos and audio fragments, which the visitor follows on a tablet. The audience is taken on a journey through time along various historical locations in the city.  

Amsterdam | Start is at the Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum)

Duration: 80 min

Fri 2 Oct try-out 12H00, 12H15, 15H00, 15H15
Sat 3 Oct12H00 (première), 12H15, 15H00, 15H15
Sun 4 Oct 12H00, 12H15, 15H00, 15H15
Wed 7 Oct until Sun 11 Oct 12H00, 12H15, 15H00, 15H15

Ticket sales: https://www.sitesofmemory.nl/

Numerologie – Henry O’Tawiah (Netherlands/Ghana)

Dutch / Ghanaian dancer and choreographer Henry O'Tawiah takes a personal journey in his hip-hop theater-dance performance Numerologie to his roots and the questions that arise along with that. A journey based on the belief that it is not a coincidence that we are born on a particular day, in a particular place and we are given a specific name, which is partially predestined and is partially a personal choice. Numerology is the teaching of numbers, which focuses on the symbolic aspect of numbers. For example, Henry's full name is Henry Kwasi (born on Sunday) Opoku (popular West African surname based on ancestry from royalty. People with these names are generally respected) Tawiah (firstborn after twins). With Numerology Henry wants to get a better picture of meanings in his life.

“There is a lot of information about your identity in your date of birth and your birth name that determines your life cycles, such as your talents, opportunities, pitfalls and trials and your true inner self”. (Henry O'Tawiah)

Choreography: Henry O'Tawiah
Dancer: Solist Lee-Lou Demierre
Style: Hiphop-theater, bboying, experimental
Duration 30 min

Numerologie is supported by The Cultural Participation Fund

AMSTERDAM | COMPAGNIETHEATER
Fri 2 Oct, 21H00
Tickets onlinewww.compagnietheater.nl/day-2 and at the theater

ROTTERDAM | MAASPODIUM
Wed 7 Oct, 19H30
Tickets online https://www.maastd.nl/voorstelling/numerologie/ or calling 010-200 25 09

AMSTERDAM | BIJLMER PARKTHEATER
Sat 10 Oct, 19H00
Tickets online www.bijlmerparktheater.nl/nl/afrovibes-festival or calling 020-311 39 30

Together – Donna Chittick (Netherlands)

In Together by choreographer Donna Chittick four dancers show women of today, self-assured, tough and also vulnerable. Donna found her inspiration in her own life but also in the lives of independent women around her and the life choices that are in their path. How do you cope with important life events? Who influences you on your life path? What role does your living environment play? In Together, Donna Chittick delves deeper into people's motives. In a mix of urban dance styles she searches for the female power in those dance styles, in a performance for which the daily reality of independent women is the source. Donna Chittick is an important core dancer in hip hop dance company BackBone. She gained experience as a maker at hip-hop center Solid Ground Movement and production house Korzo.  

Choreography: Donna Chittick
Dancers: Liza Panjoel, Fiona Dekkers, Cedella Steur, Chandra Mahler
Duration: 40 min

AMSTERDAM | DE BALIE
Fri 9 Oct, 20H00
Tickets online www.debalie.nl or calling 020-553 51 00

AMSTERDAM | BIJLMER PARKTHEATER
Sat 10 Oct, 21H00
Tickets online www.bijlmerparktheater.nl/nl/afrovibes-festival or calling 020-311 39 30

FiercePop walkabout

ENTANGLEMENTS EXHIBITION UPDATE
7th Edition pop-up exhibition for the Afrovibes Performing Arts Festival. 

The works in this year’s pop up exhibition showcase photography, illustration and mixed media. All artworks are digitally printed representing the artists original work. The works originate from Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

SOCIAL DISTANCING AND VISITING TIMES
The main exhibition location is at Compagnie Theater Amsterdam.
While the exhibition is open to festival ticket holders, due to stricter social distancing rules, there will be now set times to visit and view the exhibition for the public. I will be providing walk and talk viewings on Friday 2 October and Saturday 3 October between 16.00 and 18.00 to explain the works to exhibition visitors. Should you like to pop by, mail on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Fiercepop: Supporting emerging artists
Cathal McKee | Founder Fiercepop