we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color
Choreographer Robyn Orlin grew up in a South Africa which was split by Apartheid. As a child, she saw black miners dancing in front of a white audience. She still vividly remembers these images from her childhood.
Festival Lieve Stad,
Location ITA - Rabozaal
Run Time 70 minutes
Genre Dance
Language Language no problem
In Gesprek Sat 18 March
We wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with color… we said ‘bonjour’ to satan in 1820 …
One such image is one of the young, black Zulus who transported white people on their small handcarts through the streets of Durban. What struck her most was not so much the exploitation of human beings by fellow human beings in its rawest form, but the dignity of these rickshaw drivers, dressed in sophisticated costumes that testify to a creativity and a will to face humiliation. Adorned with plumes, gems, pearls and cow horns, they thus subverted the dehumanisation to which they were subjected. -|-
These toiling men "seemed to dance, the body floating in the air", according to Robyn Orlin. Sharing her memories with a young generation of South African dancers, his brings a struggle for dignity and equality that expresses artistic and creative self-expression today, as in the past.
With eight young dancers and Rebecca Horn's Concert for Anarchy, a work for a ceiling-mounted grand piano, Orlin commemorates a black history.
ROBYN ORLIN
Robyn Orlin, born in South Africa, creates performances that are at the intersection of visual art, performance and dance. She has received many awards worldwide for her provocative and sometimes witty work, including the prestigious British Laurence Olivier Award. In Johannesburg, she founded Orlin's City Theater and Dance Group. Despite the fact that her performances often focus on ruling structures and authority, even the National Arts Council is one of her regular funders. Robyn Orlin puts society on stage. The audience is often part of her performances. She lives and works in Berlin, although Johannesburg remains her home city and greatest source of inspiration.
In Gesprek: Robyn Orlin
Join us after the performance to think, listen and chat at In Gesprek. We invite guests to further explore the theme of we wear our wheels with pride and slap your streets with colour and exchange experiences.
In Gesprek is free of charge and starts shortly after the performance in the New Foyer.
CREDITS
concept and choreography Robyn Orlin
dancers Sunnyboy Motau, Oscar Buthelezi, Eugene Mashiane, Lesego Dihemo, Sbusiso Gumede and Masego Moloto
video Eric Perroys
costumes Birgit Neppl Light and Romain de Lagarde
music Yogin Sullaphen and Anelisa Stuurman
tour manager Thabo Pule
stage manager Jean-Marc L’Hostis
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production City Theater & Dance Group, MIDM - Moving into Dance Mophatong and Damien Valette Prod
co-production Festival Montpellier Danse, Tanz im August – 32. Internationales Festival Berlin, Chaillot – Théâtre National de la Danse, Le Grand T- Théâtre de Loire-Atlantique, Charleroi Danse - Centre chorégraphique de Wallonie – Bruxelles, Théâtre Garonne – Scène européenne, Château-Rouge – scène conventionnée d’Annemasse
17 - 26 March
Festival Lieve Stad,
Amsterdam is a city of many faces, literally, because we live here together with many different nationalities. Lieve Stad is about the city and all its inhabitants. This festival, a collaboration between ITA and Meervaart, is about bringing people together, in the city, in the theatre, in society. How do we live together and what stories do all individuals and groups carry with them? They all have their own stories, strengths and challenges. Showing these is the starting point of Lieve Stad,.
