Festival tells stories through dance

Nyawawa (Spirits of the Lake) by Paul Muiruri Last weekend, July 13 and 14, dance enthusiasts converged for the annual Dance Life Festival at the Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi. This year, six performances featuring international dance groups, among them African Roots Dance Group and Muda Africa from neighbouring Tanzania, and Forward Dance Company from Leipzig, Germany graced the stage. From Kenya, the crowd enjoyed three originally choreographed pieces from Nairobi, Kisumu and Tana River. The diverse programme also incorporated musical interludes by talented artists Akoth Jumadi and Ambasa Mandela. "My role is to ensure representation; from genres to genders and backgrounds," said the curator of the festival, Adam Chienjo. "With this festival, I connect dancers to other dancers, choreographers, dance festivals, and new audiences every year. My goal is to challenge how Kenyans view dance, to create an opportunity for them to consume dance as an art form and a profession." With the performance 'Sulle Sponde del Lago' - 'On the Shores of the Lake', choreographer Alessandro Schiattarella and Forward Dance Company by LOFFT took a critical look at one of the most famous works of classical ballet: Swan Lake. Swan Lake is representative of a certain idealized body image and continues to shape our perceptions and our expectations towards dance to this day. Together with the dancers, who have different backgrounds and physicalities, the company's artistic project director, Gustavo Fijalkow and choreographer, Alessandro Schiattarella question such aesthetically and discursively established mindsets and power relations and create unexplored dance vocabulary. The artistry of the African Roots Dance Group in their performance 'Madaraka' served as a vibrant storyteller and catalyst for social awareness. The performance bravely portrays the transformative power that arises when people channel their energy collectively to dismantle the shackles of bad leadership. With 'Nyawawa- Spirits of the Lake', Paul Muiruri explored the phenomenon, around the concept of spirits of the dead believed to originate from the Lake and the cultural practices, involving household instruments implored to ward off these spirits. On the final day of the festival, Jackson Atulo started off the festival by taking the audience through the various iconic rites of passage of the traditional rituals within the Pokomo community with his performance 'Ma'adha'; while Marion Munga explored conversations in, of, and around the womb with her piece 'Kike'. The colourful festival was wrapped up by MUDA Africa under artist Ian Mwaisunga, the creative director, with his latest act 'Frozen Power'. Inspired by Tanzanian ruler, Litti Kidanka, who used bees to protect her land from colonial forces, the contemporary dance flavoured with Tanzania's unique Taarab and urban music styles exhibits one woman's fight to keep her land in the hands of her people. "By connecting Kenyan audiences both with Kenyan and international choreographers and dancers, we provide a glimpse of the power, the aesthetic wealth, and the beauty of contemporary performance arts," said Cristina Nord, director, Goethe-Institut Nairobi. "It is a first for us to host a company with diverse dancers and different physicalities that question the aesthetically long-established worldviews, power relations, and body images. In addition, this is the first time that we have commissioned local choreographers to create pieces with dance groups in and outside of Nairobi, namely Tana River and Kisumu," said Susanne Gerhard from the Goethe-Institut. Dance Life Festival this year is supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, Fachausschuss Basel and ProHelvetia, the Swiss Arts Council.

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