Robyn Orlin
we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820…
© we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820…, Robyn Orlin © Jérôme Séron ©
© we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820…, Robyn Orlin © Jérôme Séron ©
© we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820…, Robyn Orlin © Jérôme Séron ©
Design, Robyn Orlin
Featuring dancers from Moving Into Dance Mophatong: Sunnyboy Motau, Oscar Buthelezi, Eugene Mashiane, Lesego Dihemo, Sbusiso
Gumede and Teboho Letele
Lights, Romain de Lagarde
Music, UkhoiKhoi featuring Yogin Sullaphen and Anelisa Stuurman
Video, Eric Perroys
Costumes, Birgit Neppl
General director, Jean-Marc L’Hostis
Tour manager, Thabo Pule
Stage manager, Jordan Azincot
Administration, diffusion, Damien Valette
Coordination, Louise Bailly
Produced by City Theatre & Dance Group; MIDM – Moving Into Dance Mophatong; Damien Valette Prod
Co-produced by Festival Montpellier Danse; Tanz im August – HAU Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin); Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse
(Paris); Le Grand T – Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique (Nantes); Charleroi danse – Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie
Bruxelles; théâtre Garonne – scène européenne (Toulouse); Château Rouge, scène conventionnée (Annemasse)
Co-directed by Chaillot – Théâtre national de la Danse (Paris); Festival d’Automne à Paris
With project support from the Ministry of Culture, Drac Île-de-France
With support from Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
The title of this piece is a homage to the rickshaw drivers of South Africa’s past. Robyn Orlin’s production, in which she invents a ‘rickshaw dance’, is a celebration of dance and song imbibed with a joyous thirst for life. The unyielding strength of resistance that it gives rise to is a tribute to the spirit of the Rainbow Nation.
In South Africa of the 1970’s, at the height of apartheid, its white masters were transported from place to place by Zulu men pulling brightly-coloured rickshaws, a feat requiring a mixture of great strength and dexterity. The young Robyn Orlin, at that time a rebellious, young adolescent observed the ornate decoration of their vehicles and headdresses, as well as their sprightly, dance-like steps. It was around this time that her political convictions began to take shape. The 1970’s also gave rise to the creation of Moving into Dance Mophatong (MIDM), a dance company nourished by Zulu traditions and a flagship for contemporary dance in South Africa. Today, her work with the troupe from Johannesburg constitutes a return to a common source. Dance, song and costume combine with explosive effect during this encounter the MIDM dancers and the breath-taking singing of Anelisa Stuurman aka Annalyzer, a vocalist and performance artist who has been taking nightclubs by storm from South Africa to Europe. In collaboration with the compositor, Yogin Sullaphen, she has developed a style influenced by slam, local Khoisan tradition and research into new forms of modern music.
In the same place
Nina Laisné, Néstor 'Pola' Pastorive Como una baguala oscura
In Como una baguala oscura, Nina Laisné teams up with dancer and choreographer Néstor 'Pola' Pastorive in this musical and danced portrait of Argentinian pianist Hilda Herrera. With its exploration of the roots of popular and folk music, she brings us a lively show with the hallmark of freedom stamped firmly upon it.
Robyn Orlin, Garage Dance Ensemble, uKhoiKhoi …How in salts desert is it possible to blossom...
This piece is the fruit of the first encounter between Robyn Orlin and the iconic South African company Garage Dance Ensemble. The latter practices dance theatre which is committed to equality and social justice. In the company of performers from the Northern Cape region, she brings us a no-holds-barred performance that questions the origins of social violence.
Marcelo Evelin, Demolition Incorporada Uirapuru
In this piece, the choreographer Marcelo Evelin, from the north-east region of Brazil, invites us to set foot inside a metaphorical forest and its ecological condition. Through minimalist dance, and guided by the call of the legendary Uirapuru, a rare and endangered bird, six performers embody the promise of discovering what is and what still eludes our senses.