The Africa Moment festival stops for the sixth consecutive year at the Mercat de les Flors to show the latest in African dance creation and contribute to the transformation of the performing arts sector, focusing “towards diversity and integration from an inclusive and contemporary perspective ”, in the words of the founder of the Africa Moment association, the Cameroonian bioarchitect Angel Fulla, who this Thursday presented the contest at the Barcelona house of dance.
This year the festival does not lavish so much on parallel activities in order to focus on creation. And its curator, the Madrid choreographer and actress who lives in Senegal Aïda Colmenero Díaz, is pleased that the pieces will be able to be presented on more than one occasion. “The intention is to expand the territory and that beyond Barcelona, ??other cities such as Lleida are added, in addition to Terrassa.”
Indeed, Terrassa has come into play. And with great support for the festival, since it has offered a two-week technical residency at the Teatre Principal. There it will be possible to see, without going any further, on December 10 Kolochi Baw, by Colmenero Díaz herself, with whose European premiere the festival’s exhibition program begins tomorrow, this December 2 at the Mercat.
Created and produced in Bamako (Mali), this piece is part of the creator’s research process within the framework of the prestigious Pina Bausch Fellowship. Five interpreters from Rwanda, Mali, Senegal and the Ivory Coast reflect on the concepts of sound, vibration and sacrifice in the processes of raising humanity’s great constructions, be it a pyramid, a cathedral or a mosque, as well as the sacrifices linked to The madness.
Also at the Mercat, on December 6 and 7, will be the premiere of Cheered lies (Applauded Lies) by the Mozambican Panaíbra Gabriel Canda, who with five artists —two musicians and three dancers— analyzes the construction of postcolonial narratives. “It is about seeing how the narratives were built and what other sources of truth there have been. It is important for me to delve into this topic to better understand and be able to imagine a continent before colonization and the post-colonial outcome. In order to find their own construction model, a utopia… to imagine what Africa would be like”, explains Canda.
The creator, born in Maputo, wants to “remove these encyclopedias”, the result of a manipulation to build a narrative of being that shows us an impoverished continent, full of sad stories and wars. “I am interested in this citizen body, this political body that manages to say ‘I am here’ and free itself from stereotypes, emancipate itself”, adds this artist who works with the spoken word, rap and musicality of the word, in addition to adding video.
Lastly, the Namibian Trixie Munyama will premiere Smeer on December 8 at the Sala Pina Bausch del Mercat. This performative installation is a very recent work that she curates at the Windhoek International Dance Festival, which actually premiered in the Netherlands. Munyama, who believes that dance is intertwined with history, sociopolitics and identity politics, part of a healing ceremony in a group of Ovahimbas (indigenous people from northern Namibia and southern Angola) to show the coexistence between tradition and modernity.
For his part, the Ivorian choreographer and dancer Oulouy will give the absolute premiere of his latest work, Afrikan party, on December 14 at the Teatre Principal in Terrassa, almost two years after his successful Black tour.
Along with the exhibition program, the meeting will feature two international artist residencies: Andrea Bonilla (Colombia) and Ana Maira Favacho (Brazil) together with Khadim Ndiaye (Senegal). And from December 3 to 11, the third edition of the professional training program Creation | Reflection | Body, in El Graner. An initiative with a non-Eurocentric approach that this year will grant scholarships to five African and Afro-descendant students to participate in the program.
