Result of a meeting between the Kenyan Opiyo
Okach and the Congolese Faustin Linyekula and the German-Ethiopian Afrah
Tenambergen, La Compagnie Gaara founded the bases for a new east African
dance as discovered at the African Choreographic Encounters of Luanda
in 1998 with Cleansing, a piece in which the mundane gestures of everyday
cleaning evoke sometimes violent purification. The prize wins them various
invitations to festivals in France, notably Montpellier Danse 1998, as
well as on the African continent (Marché des Arts du Spectacle
Africain, tour of East Africa). It brought them recognition as one of
the pioneering dance companies of Africa.
From 1998 Ballet Atlantique Régine Chopinot actively supports the
group through a series of residencies and choreographic
exchanges. Having met the company during an African tour she invites them
to for a first residency in at Ballet Atlantique. In 1999 she supports,
with the collaboration of Centre Chorégraphique de Montpellier,
the new creation of the company, Rituals of the Rock, a double creation
inspired by the mythology of nomadic ethnic groups in East Africa: Dilo
a solo of Opiyo Okach and Kit Mikayi – a trio for female dancers.
|
From Génération 2001,
project for choreographic development in Kenya…
From
2000 la Compagnie Gaara brings together Ballet Atlantique Régine
Chopinot, Association Française d’Action Artistique and La Maison
Française de Nairobi around a long term choreographic development
project targeting artists from different disciplines in Kenya (traditional
dance, theatre, cabaret, fashion, visual arts…).
Between autumn 2000 and January 2002 over twenty artists follow the
program titled Générations 2001, made up of workshop modules
led by Opiyo Okach and as well as dancers and choreographers invited
in residency in Nairobi. The creation of the piece Abila
in June 2002 is one of the results of this process.
|
Thanks to the support of
the Ford Foundation, Gaara Dance Foundation is created in 2002 to consolidate
the choreographic work initiated in Kenya. Its activities, choreographic
research, artist residency, regional & international choreographic
exchange, support for creation and diffusion of work have grown since
January 2003 at the Godown Arts Centre – the first renovated warehouse
pluridisciplinary artspace in Nairobi. The activities of the foundation
have taken regional magnitude with projects such as Danceworks – annual
platform for new east African choreography organised in since 2003.
The Dance Encounters of Nairobi (Retratcing Connections 2004 & Encoding
Identities 2005) opened up to companies from beyond Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania. Alongside annual regional encounters and development program
the wider encounter will continue as a biannual from 2007. |
