Africa

EDN started working with African partners in 2012 with the project Dance Dialogues Africa led by tanzhaus nrw.

Dance Dialogues Africa aimed to initiate long-term cooperative relationships between several dance centres in Africa (Mozambique, Mali, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa) and a number of key dance venues in Germany.

African partners included CulturArte (Maputo, MZ), Donko Seko (Bamako, ML), Ness El Fen (Tunis, TN), Studios Kabako (Kisangani, CD), and Vuyani Dance (Johannesburg, ZA).

South Africa 2020

The European Dancehouse Network (EDN) in partnership with the Institute for Creative Arts - ICA developed the EDN Cape Town Encounter from Tuesday 10 March – Saturday 14 March 2020, with two evening events open to the public on March 10th and March 13th.

This Encounter engaged with the promises and pitfalls of African choreographers and artists touring European contexts. Many institutions abroad have not kept up with contemporary developments in the political, ethical and aesthetic expectations of African artists. And African artists, in turn, look to European tours to increase their audience base, interact with artists and producers globally, as well as experience the financial benefits these tours offer when compared with trying to stage works at home.

The EDN Encounter was the occasion to open up these discussions, and to create an opportunity for artists, producers and students to meet and network, as well as shift and influence the dynamics of the exchange.

EDN will meet with a cross-section of producers and choreographers throughout their week-long visit. In addition, the Encounter features two stimulating public events on the evenings of Tuesday 10 March, and Friday 13 March. EDN and the ICA invited the public and particularly dancers, choreographers, artists and academics interested in dance to attend:

• On March 10th, the presentation of EDN network and members Mercat de les Flors, tanzhaus nrw, Dance Base, La Briqueterie CDCN du Val-de-Marne, CSC Centro per la Scena Contemporanea together with Nora chipaumire. This event culminated with the presentation by ICA Director Professor Jay Pather.
• On March 13th, nora chipaumire presented the lecture "dreaming - UNsustainability as a tool for the “new African” thinker-maker-doer". What is infrastructure? How can the black African artist build this? What does one need to dream beyond the hand to mouth systems in place for many artists? nora chipaumire’s presentation will be a thinking out loud, dreaming beyond the ngo-funded creations to European tour (hand to mouth, studio to theatre, studio to tour) market system. A reflection on economies of imaginations – an invitation to think with others on how we can grow creative surplus.

Find out more about the encounter here.

Picture: nora chipaumire, Self-Un-contained #punk, 2017. Photograph by Ashley Walters.