For the past few years the Toronto-born and Brussels-based choreographer Ula Sickle has regularly worked in the DR Congo. Her artistic encounters there gave rise to several collaborative projects. For Kinshasa Electric she teamed up with three young Congolese dancers to explore the popular dances of the moment, from local concert stages and nightclub dance floors. With German-Israeli DJ Baba Electronica, they created a soundtrack mixing international rhythms with local beats. Rather than focusing on the distance between Africa and the rest of the world, Kinshasa Electric pinpoints the many connections and exchanges taking place within a globalized context.
The performance delves into the blurred lines between here and there, between popular and high culture, art and commerce, authenticity and selling out. Sickle set out to capture the openness, ingenuity and surprise of the collaborative process.
Video trailer:
Produktion: Caravan Production (Brüssel). Koproduktion: Kunstenfestivaldesarts, KVS (Brüssel), Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (Groningen), SPRING Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht), NXTSTP, DÉPARTS mit der Unterstützung von Kulturprogramm der Europäischen Union Unterstützt durch Flämische Landesbehörde – Internationale Projekte, Flämischen Gemeinschafstkommission der Region Brüssel-Hauptstadt Mit freundlicher Unterstützung des Goethe-Instituts. In Kooperation mit den Sophiensaelen.
There will be a Physical Introduction to
"Kinshasa Electric" - For more information click here.