performance lab #7 projects

series I

series II

series III

performers:

Jack Bryton Otieno, Sara Kwala, Alice Kamene, Jackson Atulo, Alacoque Ntome, Adam Chienjo, John Ulawi Rapassa, Juliet Achieng, Naomi Ciiru Wanjiru, Papa Omugataya, Sammy Gian

Choreographed by Portland-based Japanese/American artist Takahiro Yamamoto, this performance has been developed in collaboration with its cast of eleven Kenyan dancers

‘Conversations’ is literally and metaphorically a performance in and out of dialogues between a choreographer and a performer, between performers and audience, and amongst performers themselves. As a result, it is a performance of quietude and poetry, immediately reflecting on the idiosyncrasy of each individual performer in the present.

Takahiro Yamamoto

 

To be and not to do

'Performers often bring to the stage the power of epic stories, skills and craftsmanship. But what remains on stage when we strip down these skills and craft? We are left with something essential...You Me Here Now!'

I met Takahiro Yamamoto during an Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium meeting at the TBA (Time Based Arts) Festival in Portland, Oregon. We struck a cord and following many conversations invited him to Nairobi to exchange and work with other artists in the lab. I was particularly struck by the way Taka's work straddles across text, dance, performance and visual art. The draft-work 'Conversations' is the result of a 3 week process at the GoDown Arts Centre with dancers in Nairobi - Opiyo Okach

 

The residency of Takahiro Yamamoto at Performance Lab Nairobi has been made possible with support from MAPP International Productions & The Contemporary Africa Arts Consortium

 

Follow Takahiro Yamamoto writing on his experience in Nairobi at: http://takahiroyamamoto.com/writing/writing.html