FareWell: Parched Earth - Remembrances from Tomorrow (Kenya, Africa)

2008 - Part of the FareWell Series: Nairobi, Kenya Residency for U.S. Department of State / US Embassy, Kenya.

Choreographer/Director – Maida Withers (USA)
Dancers/Collaborators: Neema Bagamunhanda, Rebecca Gatu, Joseph Kanyenjo, Michael Muritha, Evans Ng’ang’a, Kepha Oiro, Juliette Omalo, Mark Onhango (Kenya)
Composition/Music – Steve Hilmy (USA)
New Media – Ayodamola Okunseinde (USA)
Light Design – John Njoroge (Kenya)
Producer: GoDown Center (Kenya)
Parched Earth: Remembrances from Tomorrow (Nairobi, Kenya)

Parched Earth: Remembrances from Tomorrow is a dance project that took place in Nairobi, Kenya in 2008.

The dance work, Parched Earth, was created in collaboration with nine Kenyan dancers (six men and three women) during a three-week residency at the GoDown Center for the Arts when Maida Withers, Wendell Cooper and Steve Hilmy, USA artists, were in Nairobi as Cultural Envoys for the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy. Parched Earth, Remembrances from Tomorrow was performed at the GoDown Center on June 3, 2008.

Concepts and movements for Parched Earth were influenced by the photograph exhibit at the GoDown Center for the Arts – an exhibit of photo images documenting the civil disturbance in Kenya that occurred the month prior to our residency as U.S. Cultural Enjoys in Nairobi, Kenya. The Kenyan dancers had experienced intense personal trauma through the recent upheaval in Nairobi. Together, through rehearsals to create Parched Earth we collaborated to reveal the deep understanding of the Earth and nature by the African people and to further understand violence through the current human disruption of cherished values.

Working together creatively lead to deeper understanding, trust, and acceptance among the artists and the audience.

Copyright © 2009
Web Page: maidadance.com/works/fare-well-parched-earth-africa/