KIZAZI | ESQUIVE
Stéphanie Mwamba | Zantara (Goma | Abidjan)
TicketsSchedule
Premiere
In this double bill, audiences will be able to watch two performances in succession, both of which wrestle with themes of identity, the body, and resistance in a variety of ways. KIZAZI [eng. “uterus”] is the first solo work by choreographer and performer Stéphanie Mwamba. What does it mean to grow up a woman in the eastern part of the DRC, in a region where for more than 15 years, the female body has been a territory to be occupied, a war zone? She uses dance as an act of reclaiming her own bodily autonomy, creating organic, powerful movements that weave themselves into a political act of emancipation.
In ESQUIVE, the debut solo piece by emerging talent Zantara from Abidjan, the body becomes a site of attributions, omissions, and internal struggles: blinded, it thrusts, rubs against, evades, yet somehow al- ways encounters itself again. Infused with Roukasskass dance, this performance is an evasion that is simultaneously an act of confrontation that asks what remains in the space beyond the sum of all projections.
Biography
Stéphanie Mwamba is a choreographer and performer born in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Following her training in traditional and contemporary dance, she founded her own dance company, Ochula. Alongside 30 dancers from 14 different African countries, she performed in the revival of Pina Bausch’s THE RITE OF SPRING, which was staged in collaboration with the École des Sables. In 2019, Mwamba founded the Ochula Center in Minova – a space dedicated to promoting educational opportunities and research in the field of traditional and contemporary dance.
Dancer and performer Zantara lives and works in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Since 2021, she has participated in the project Entr’Ailes, a long-term programme established by Nadia Beugré and Virginie Dupray that is aimed at supporting young women in their artistic endeavours. She has been working towards a qualification in puppetry and marionette construction at the Académie Ivoire Marionnettes since 2022. As a performer, Zantara has worked with Nadia Beugré (in 2022’s ENTRE DEUX, a Staatstheater Darmstadt production), as well as with other artists from Abidjan such as Ange Gbadie.
Cast
KIZAZI
Artistic direction & performance
Stéphanie Mwamba
Outside eye
Abdoulaye Konate | Nadia Beugré | Virginie Dupray
Music
Skill Sawasawa
Production
cie Ochula, Libr’Arts – Virginie Dupray, assisted by Noura Soumahoro
ESQUIVE
Artistic direction & performance
Zantara
Outside eye
Nadia Beugré | Virginie Dupray | Hanna Hedman
Production
Libr’Arts – Virginie Dupray, assisted by Noura Soumahoro
Info
For the programme BIRDS ON PERIPHERIES, a reduced ticket price applies when attending at least three events: each ticket then costs only 5 € per performance.
Accessibility
Production & Realization
KIZAZI
Supported by
École des Sables | Amizero Company | Französische Botschaft Côte d’Ivoire I Institut français of Côte d’Ivoire
ESQUIVE
Supported by
Institut français Paris & Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole | French Embassy in Côte d’Ivoire | Institut français of Côte d’Ivoire | Ivoire Marionnettes
