Talent nurturing, human rights, state capture, youth disenfranchisement, and domestic violence dominate during the third edition of the Dance Life Festival held at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi, Kenya:
Resuming live performances for the second year, this year’s version of the festival featured some of the finest dancers from Kenya and South Africa. I must say that the curator, Adam Chienjo (Adamo) together with his collaborators raised the bar, as far as the selection of performers is concerned.
The festival featured over fifteen performances spanning various genres such as acrobatic dances, theatre dances, screen dances, afro-contemporary dances, and conceptual dances.
Opening the stage as the first item was Shangilia Mtoto Kenya a children's dance group that creatively blends orchestra, acrobatics, afro-contemporary dance, and circus to create interdisciplinary performances. The audience was wowed, especially because these talented children formerly lived in the streets but have gone miles to rewrite the stories of their futures. Shangilia Kenya had an impeccable way of gripping us from the first piece in their repertoire, an orchestral national anthem rendition followed by a heartwarming afro-contemporary dance, then it got more electrifying, seeing very young performers, most of them below ten years present to us an outstanding circus show comprised of juggling, unicycling, acrobatics, and dance. It was unbelievable, to see the young unicyclists holding hands while enjoying the rides, demonstrating a skill that is almost impossible for most of us. All the audience could do was drop their jaws while witnessing the sterling performance from Shangilia Mtoto performers. I was moved, seeing a very young girl with only one hand dancing so passionately because, at the end of the day, she is differently abled.
Ndiki Ndiki, a transdisciplinary performance choreographed by the South African guest choreographer Musa Hlatshwayo is probably the piece that left indelible marks in the minds of each person sitting in the Kenya National Theatre auditorium. This was more than just a performance, but an invocation, created to reflect the angst of many Kenyans seeing how their once beloved country has been left under the control of oligarchs and looters who have aided state capture, disregard for human rights through extra-judicial killings of the youth, especially during elections, frustrations of activists, political assassinations, and youth disenfranchisement. By the time the one-hour act ended, I lacked even the strength to put my hands together in a celebratory mood like the people sitting next to me in the auditorium. Ndiki Ndiki left me charged, and stirred, for almost a hundredth time, my angst for the Kenyan leadership system and utopic democracy.
I laud Hlatshwayo for bringing together some of the great names in the Kenyan contemporary dance scene such as Davilla among others. The choreographer creatively combined archival footage of activists such as Boniface Mwangi and scenes from Kenya’s past post-election violence and fused them to make a riveting dance piece. The piece made me reflect on where we have come from and where we are headed socio-politically as a common mwananchi.
Several dance films were showcased at the festival, an indication that Kenyan dancers are taking the advantage of technology to create transdisciplinary dances that can be experienced through other media such as film. The dance films that screened at the festival include Kakitu by Marion Munga, Inside Out by Diana Gaya, Authentisiste by Doudou Saidi, and Spot by Vincent Owowko and Aniemeke. Other choreographers and performers in the great lineup included Neema Bagamuhunda, Maulid Owino, Click House production, Luanda Mori, and Brian Oloo.
A taste of Kenyan rich and diverse culture was enhanced at the festival by Kuria women's cultural dance troupe called Ntimaru Nyagetari Dancers sponsored by TICAH. This was a great performance. The women, together with their male soloist delivered a performance in the Kuria language, dressed in traditional regalia and beads, making us experience the rich Kuria culture. One of the women in the dance troupe wowed me with her prowess of “hula hooping” a necklace so effortlessly while enjoying the dance from her community.
At least there were unique elements in every performance that was presented at the festival for the two days. For instance, how each group combined African traditional instruments with Western ones to create unique beats gave each performance an extra layer in terms of composition and enabled us to experience multidimensional pieces. The musicians, Niamh and Michelle Ongaro provided musical interludes through their live performances. Niahm presented emotionally heavy songs, especially the one inspired by the #MeToo movement that raised awareness on sexual assault and rape against women in the workplace and almost everywhere in society.
In terms of curatorial design and planning, I think the festival curator and his collaborators ignored the importance of intentional programming for all the performances. The question I would like to ask the curator is when selecting performances, what do you want the audience to feel or take home at the end of the day, are you just putting up a lineup to meet a threshold, or there is an intentional impact on us, with the collection of these performances as well as the interludes? We hope you are going to think through this in the next edition of the Dance Life Festival. Also, I know “African time” is a thing in most Kenyan shows, but I believe this festival is international and so, starting two hours late is a huge punch in the face of the growing dance sector. In my observation, conducting rehearsals on the actual event day is what delays the schedule mostly. It would be great to run tech and dress rehearsals at least a day before the official festival kick-off.
That notwithstanding, the Dance Life Festival offered dance lovers and performers a unique experience to take part in and experience diverse and transdisciplinary creations. The organizations supporting such initiatives, such as Goethe Institut and TICAH are greatly enabling performers to access the opportunities to create, exchange, and share. Looking forward to the next edition.