POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
on 15 April after the performance with the artists moderated by Nóra Balkányi journalist.
ALL-STYLE DANCE BATTLE
on 16 April after the performance you can watch a battle (7-to-smoke) of Hungarian dancers evaluated by the Congolese jury outside Trafó, free of charge.
On concert stages and in the nightclubs of Kinshasa, dance is reinvented every day.
Boundaries between international and local beats, pop and high culture, art and commerce, authenticity and selling out, Kinshasa, Brussels and the rest of the world become blurred in a globalised world such as ours. Hip hop and streetdance from Kinshasa, contemporary dance from Brussels, and a German-Israeli DJ mixing international rhythms and local beats. Choreographer Ula Sickle prefers to use these elements to find similarities and connections, rather than to gauge the distance between Africa and Europe.
Like in earlier projects, for Kinshasa Electric Ula Sickle has worked with young Congolese dancers. Sickle focuses on her dancers’ individual backgrounds, the influence of the dance styles from African night life, and on the way their movements are culturally and politically encoded. Kinshasa Electric turns a Budapest theatre auditorium into an African nightclub.
Ula Sickle is a choreographer and performer, living and working in Brussels, Belgium. From a background in contemporary dance, she works across disciplines, and often in collaboration with artists from other domains such as the visual arts, contemporary music or architecture. While her work takes many forms, from film to installation to live performance, it centers on a choreographic approach to movement and a work on perception and reception, specific to the live arts. Ula’s interest in looking for an alternative to the cannon of contemporary dance, has led her to seek out performers who embody other movement histories. Frequently centered around strong performers, Ula searches for forms of choreographic writing, where the cultural coding and political power of ‘popular’ dancing can be revealed or where the musicality and materiality of the body itself can take center stage.
Creation: Ula Sickle, Popaul Amisi, Daniela Bershan, Jeannot Kumbonyeki Deba, Joel Makabi Tenda
Concept and Direction: Ula Sickle
Choreography, Performance: Popol Amisi, Jeannot Kumbonyeki Deba, Joel Makabi Tenda
Music and Live Sound: Baba Electronica (Daniela Bershan)
Featuring: Bartha Márk
Scenography: Ula Sickle, Daniela Bershan
Light Design: Ula Sickle
Dramaturgy: Sébastien Hendrickx
Lighting Engineer: Elke Verachtert
Sound Engineer: Benjamin Dandoy
Executive Production: Caravan Production (Brussels)
Production Assistant Kinshasa: Dada Kahindo (Platforme Contemporain/Enda Mbele Asbl)
Co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels BE), KVS (Brussels BE), Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (Groningen NL), NXTSTP & DEPARTS with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union, Spring Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht NL)
Supported by:The Flemish Authorities - International Projects, The Flemish Community Commission Of The Brussels Capital Region
Thanks to: Mohamed Bourouissa, Tale Dolven, David Helbich, Paul Kerstens, Aurel Zola
on 15 April after the performance with the artists moderated by Nóra Balkányi journalist.
ALL-STYLE DANCE BATTLE
on 16 April after the performance you can watch a battle (7-to-smoke) of Hungarian dancers evaluated by the Congolese jury outside Trafó, free of charge.
On concert stages and in the nightclubs of Kinshasa, dance is reinvented every day.
Boundaries between international and local beats, pop and high culture, art and commerce, authenticity and selling out, Kinshasa, Brussels and the rest of the world become blurred in a globalised world such as ours. Hip hop and streetdance from Kinshasa, contemporary dance from Brussels, and a German-Israeli DJ mixing international rhythms and local beats. Choreographer Ula Sickle prefers to use these elements to find similarities and connections, rather than to gauge the distance between Africa and Europe.
Like in earlier projects, for Kinshasa Electric Ula Sickle has worked with young Congolese dancers. Sickle focuses on her dancers’ individual backgrounds, the influence of the dance styles from African night life, and on the way their movements are culturally and politically encoded. Kinshasa Electric turns a Budapest theatre auditorium into an African nightclub.
Ula Sickle is a choreographer and performer, living and working in Brussels, Belgium. From a background in contemporary dance, she works across disciplines, and often in collaboration with artists from other domains such as the visual arts, contemporary music or architecture. While her work takes many forms, from film to installation to live performance, it centers on a choreographic approach to movement and a work on perception and reception, specific to the live arts. Ula’s interest in looking for an alternative to the cannon of contemporary dance, has led her to seek out performers who embody other movement histories. Frequently centered around strong performers, Ula searches for forms of choreographic writing, where the cultural coding and political power of ‘popular’ dancing can be revealed or where the musicality and materiality of the body itself can take center stage.
Creation: Ula Sickle, Popaul Amisi, Daniela Bershan, Jeannot Kumbonyeki Deba, Joel Makabi Tenda
Concept and Direction: Ula Sickle
Choreography, Performance: Popol Amisi, Jeannot Kumbonyeki Deba, Joel Makabi Tenda
Music and Live Sound: Baba Electronica (Daniela Bershan)
Featuring: Bartha Márk
Scenography: Ula Sickle, Daniela Bershan
Light Design: Ula Sickle
Dramaturgy: Sébastien Hendrickx
Lighting Engineer: Elke Verachtert
Sound Engineer: Benjamin Dandoy
Executive Production: Caravan Production (Brussels)
Production Assistant Kinshasa: Dada Kahindo (Platforme Contemporain/Enda Mbele Asbl)
Co-production: Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels BE), KVS (Brussels BE), Noorderzon Performing Arts Festival (Groningen NL), NXTSTP & DEPARTS with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Union, Spring Performing Arts Festival (Utrecht NL)
Supported by:The Flemish Authorities - International Projects, The Flemish Community Commission Of The Brussels Capital Region
Thanks to: Mohamed Bourouissa, Tale Dolven, David Helbich, Paul Kerstens, Aurel Zola
