VAGABUNDUS
IDIO CHICHAVA (MOZAMBIQUE)
world premiere
Migration is as old as the world, but is it fully understood? Often we conceptualize it through words – positive or negative, voluntary or forced, an invisible wave or flood of people. It is a statistic, an emergency, a trend, a border control; but above all it is something other than a natural human urge. The migrant is today’s nomad, the settler, the discoverer, but also today’s vagabond – a wanderer, an idler, a brigand.
Mozambican choreographer Idio Chichava shows migration through the prism of the body. To build the choreography, he draws inspiration from the dance ritual of the Makonde people living in Mozambique and neighbouring countries, and the concept of fusing the dancing and singing of man’s body into one global body. According to Chichava, only the body that simultaneously dances and sings can fully express itself and exist in synergy with others. The choreographer considers this global body a natural but forgotten human condition – and therefore charts a path on stage towards it. Convinced of the energetic connection between people, and inspired by his cultural roots, the up-and-coming choreographer offers audiences a performance with a powerful energetic charge – as personal as it is universal.
VAGABUNDUS, his solo choreographic project, is a performance in which 13 dancers never stop dancing and singing old and current Mozambican songs, gospel and baroque motifs, baring their souls. It shows that when we are together, we can exceed our potential. The explosive impact of dance and voices needs no sets, elaborate costumes or lighting effects to touch the audience. The only props are possessions and objects that each dancer keeps as a memento. The ritual steps and movements break down into component parts that are reconnected in a narrative of life; life as a constant journey, of coming together and being together in a group, a collective, a community. VAGABUNDUS is therefore not a collection, but a growing progression of dances imbued with origins, heritage and identity, and songs telling personal stories. It is the path to the global body – from inside the sheath of flesh comes the energetic charge that unleashes our full capacity.
Exploring the stage presence and expressiveness of the body, Chichava invites us to find our global body again, our true self that celebrates life. For the choreographer, the emotional rather than the technical dimensions of dance are the most important. Therefore, the beginning and end of the performance are open as the audience enters and leaves the hall. Like Migration, VAGABUNDUS has no precise beginning and no endpoint.
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14.05.2022 – 8 PM
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Boris Hristov House of Culture, Plovdiv
IDIO CHICHAVA
Idio Chichava is a dancer, choreographer, and artistic director of Converge+ Dance Company from Mozambique. After a successful career in France, he returned to his home country and began working actively to promote creative exchange, free dance education for local communities, and the presentation of performances in public spaces. His focus includes multidisciplinary productions and creative collaborations so that everyone has a space to explore their inner world and coexist with others.
Chichava is the artistic director of Semana da Dança and the multidisciplinary platform KINANI, and is also one of the two producers of the Raíz Traditional Music Festival in Maputo. Following his individual projects are Veridicidade, Xithukulumukumba, Xiquelene, Inkino, Intolerance, Sentido Único, Yellow Fat Chaos!, as well as performances in public spaces, museums, galleries, and more. He worked in the team of Culturarte, the first contemporary dance company in Mozambique.
As a dancer and choreographer, he has collaborated with a number of artists, including Panayibra Gabriel, Horacio Makuakua, Cristina Moura, Thomas Howert, David Zambrano, Frank Micheletti, Boisi Sequana, Kudus Onikeku, Horacio Makuakua, Marcel Gbefa, JoJo Cassady, Faustin Lienkula, and others. He has participated in artist residencies and tours in more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Awarded the State Diploma of France, Chichava lives between Mozambique and France, where he has collaborated in the choreographies of the French company Kubilai Khan Investigations since 2005.
CREDITS
company – Converge +
Concept and Choreography – Idio Chichava
Assistent and rehearsal director – Osvaldo Passirivo
Creation and Interpretation :
Mai Juli Nhapulo
Stela Matsombe
Cristina Jaime Matola
Judith Novela
Nilegio Cossa
Martins Tuvanji
Osvaldo Passirivo
Vasco Sitoe
Diogo Igor Amaral
Fernando Machaieie
Calton Muholove
Mauro Sigauque
Patrick Sitoe ( Kazsula )
OutSide Eye – Pak Ndjamena, Janeth Mulapha, Lucrecia Paco and Yuck Miranda
Lights Creator – Ivan Mathis
Costumes – Sara Machado
Tour Manager/ Producer – Silvana Pombal
Production – Converge + , Yodine
Co-Production – ONE DANCE WEEK & KINANI Festival, Maputo
Partners:
Teatro Scala
Centro Cultural Franco Moçambicano (CCFM)
Companhia Nacional de canto e dança (CNCD) / Khani Khedi
Photography – Mariano Silva, Idelfonso Colaço
ONE DANCE WEEK is the largest forum in Bulgaria, dedicated entirely to contemporary dance. The festival started in 2008 and since 2017 is part of the Plovdiv ECoC 2019 programme. The 13th edition of the International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Performance ONE DANCE WEEK in 2021 is implemented as part of the Legacy programme.
ONE DANCE WEEK presents in Plovdiv some of the most interesting and significant performers and practices in the field of contemporary dance from the world. The programme of the festival presents companies and choreographers who provoke the audience with a different and diverse range of ideas.
The 14th edition, planned for May - June 2022, plans on performances from France, Norway, Portugal, Canada, Korea.
The trend of expanding the scope of the already known format of the festival with "country in focus" continues and in 2022 the spotlight is focused on Portugal.
The festival programme will also feature premieres produced within the large-scale European project BIG PULSE, of which One Dance Week is part as the only representative from the Balkans among European dance festivals.
The 2022 edition takes further steps for sustainability and development of the new multi-channel digital platform ONE FOR ALL, which launched in mid-2020 continues to create quality online content - texts, podcasts, videos. A number of events are programmed to take place throughout the year - lectures presented by leading figures in the field of contemporary dance; workshops led by choreographers who will visit Plovdiv; rich online content that presents the most significant contemporary dance artists "behind the scenes" or with their performances.
The programme will be soon announced.
You can follow current information here:
Website: https://onedanceweek.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/onedanceweek
International Festival of Contemporary Dance and Performance ONE DANCE WEEK (2022) - implemented by Foundation ONE for Culture and Arts. The project is part of the Legacy 2 programme of Plovdiv 2019.
