Artists & Projects Directory
Faustin Linyekula/Studios Kabako
We deserve
more than the vanishing shadows of delusions
We deserve
more than headlines and media compassion
More than the
false happiness that blinds our minds
More than
assistance, we deserve justice
More than
money, we deserve dignity
More than a
glorious past, we long for a future
Choreographer and director Faustin Linyekula creates intricate and powerful dance/theater/performance works which reflect on the political, social and cultural history and present day struggles of his home country. Through personal stories, communal activity and beautifully crafted choreography, his works subvert the dominant images of contemporary Congo with their resourcefulness and hope.
With more more more... future he takes inspiration from the driving force of ndombolo; bastard daughter of rumba, traditional rhythms, church fanfares and Sex Machine funk, this Congolese pop delivers unstoppable energy. Ndombolo musicians praise their own power, beautiful women, designer clothes and luxury cars-a fantasy life drawn from soap operas and American music videos - as if everything is granted in a country where in fact you have to start over again every day.
In more more more... future ndombolo expresses not the cheap, thin dreams of money and fame, but the difficulties, dead ends, and mistakes of previous generations. Linyekula's choreography embraces creative destruction and stakes a claim to his own no-future society, saying "If it's impossible for us to send to hell a future that we never had, if it's difficult to go on ruining our pile of ruins, let's try to dream, the feet firmly kept on the ground, and just to imagine more future."
In this raucous and provocative performance three dancers, including Linyekula, twist and rage to the seething poems of Antoine Vumilia Muhindo, a political prisoner in Kinshasa and childhood friend of Linyekula's, set in song by music director Flamme Kapaya, an exceptional guitarist and a major star in the Congo. Driven by the rhythms of Kapaya and his five-member on-stage band, more more more... future is a fierce celebration of hope in the face of despair.
The Fall 2011 tour is produced by MAPP International Productions with the Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium, continuing our 5 year partnership with this prominent world artist.