Full Length documentation with 4CAMs at Arts House. Video available by request
Germaine Acogny, recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement from La Biennale di Venezia, is considered worldwide the mother of contemporary African dance.
Somewhere at the beginning is a breathtaking, autobiographical solo that is as moving as it is illuminating. The history of one long life crisscrosses its way across continents, intermingling with the histories of Africa and Europe and just as inseparable from either.
Employing text and film, music and movement, Somewhere at the beginning confronts a troubled past while conjuring a vivid portrait of the dynamic present that is West Africa and its diaspora today. It unearths the devastating lived effects of colonial Christianity while also connecting with the suppressed power of her grandmother’s Yoruban spirituality. As Acogny lays waste to patriarchal power structures, new possibilities to forge alternative paths appear, but at each turn this insightful and singular artist is reminded that it is never fully possible to escape your beginnings.
With direction by Mikaël Serre, Somewhere at the beginning is an ambitious and arresting feat of world theatre, connecting audiences with a range of histories and cultures and constructing a dialogue between them.
Credits
Concept and Direction: Mikael Serre
Choreography: Germaine Acogny
Assistant Choreography: Patrick Acogny
Set Design: Maciej Fiszer
Costumes: Johanna Diakhate-Rittmeyer
Music composed and performed live: Fabrice Bouillon “LaForest”
Video: Sébastien Dupouey
Lighting Design: Sébastien Michaud
Technical Director: Marco Wehrspann
Text by: Togoun Servais Acogny, Aloopho, Germaine Acogny, Euripides (Medea), adaptation by Mikaël Serre
Production: JANT-BI, Senegal