Monday, February 15, 2010
Africa:
"Dance has Become
A Very Personal Narrative"
Opiyo Okach/ pic: Laurent Philippe/ Yale 2008-2009 season
Mwenda Wa Micheni's thoughts on African contemporary dance:
...There is something "unAfrican" about it. Passionate and at the same time looking somewhat crazy and weird, the dancers do seem to be deliberately attempting to put any meaning to their steps. The audiences, lost in the rhythms, are left interpreting if they must... It was quite unusual in the past to dance alone. The whole village danced together. There was a structure; a clear storyline in the lyrics and the opening and closing were alwaysMore contemporary dance efforts in Egypt and Uganda. Below, Opiyo Okach performing "No Man’s Gone Now," created with choreographer Julyen Hamilton for Festival Avignon 2003.
definite. Africa is changing, and globalising. And in an increasingly individualistic society that many places in Africa are becoming, dance has become a very personal narrative, expressed through personal metaphors and moves with the dancers caring less about the audiences.... Supporters say this new wave is the contemporary dancers' contribution of new memory as they borrow from traditional dance but push the limits a little further, something that has been described by some critics as a cultural subjugation. "This movement is born out of traditional dance but moves onto somewhere else. I try to find a whole truth for myself,"said Opiyo Okach, who has been one of the missionaries of contemporary dance to sometimes reluctant fans.