International Exchange | June 15 – 30, 2007 and January 6 – 12, 2008
Les écailles de la mémoire (The Scales of memory)
Reknowned choreographers Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Germaine Acogny explored how best to represent the beauty and vastness of nature, explore the complexities of love, and highlight the visceral link between African-Americans and West Africans in their first full length collaborative venture. True to both choreographers’ methodologies, the research focused on taking the gender differences into account and delving in to the chasms and similarities between the movement of dancers living in a Muslim country and one comprised mostly of Christians. Their first residency together in the deep south was spent meeting with African American history scholars, visiting Black Archives, museums, and plantations, all which influenced their time together in the studio and honed the focus of the new work on memory, love and resistance.
During their second residency, they finalized lighting and production components in the Nancy Smith Fichter Dance Theatre. They also shared a preview performance for the local Tallahassee community as a fundraiser for the MANCC Student Scholarship Fund.
Les écailles de la mémoire (The Scales of memory) premiered January 17, 2008 at the University of Florida Performing Arts.
Collaborators in Residence: Jawole Willa Jo Zollar [Artistic Director, UBW], Germaine Acogny [Artistic Director, JANT-BI], Helmut Vogt [Administrative Director, JANT-BI], Naoko Nagata [costumer], Antoine Tempé [photographer], Nora Chipaumire, Bennalldra Williams, Marjani Forte, Christine King, Love Muwwakkil, Lela Jones, Paloma McGregor, Catherine Denecy [UBW dancers]; Babacar Ba, Cire Beye, Mohammed Abdoulaye, Kane, Ousame Ndiaye, Tchebe Bertrand Saky, Assane Abib Sow, Pape Ibrahima Ndiaye Kaolack [ JANT-BI dancers]
Maggie Allesee
