[Biennale de la danse 2021] Qudus Onikeku - "RE:Incarnation" | Rehearsals of the Défilé Final

Channelling the groove of his home city Lagos, the Nigerian choreographer revisits 1970s afrobeat with today’s hip hop, dance hall and funky house. To show “the depth of Black culture, its intransigent joy,” as well as its incredible capacity to reinvent itself: that is the task Qudus Onikeku sets for himself in this new piece, presented at the Dance Biennale as part of the Africa2020 season. He will also lead the finale of the Défilé, bringing international attention to the new face of African dance. Ré:incarnation builds a bridge between the energy and rhythms of yesterday, and the new generation of dancers whose inventiveness thrives on contemporary musical and choreographic currents relayed via Instagram. Taking inspiration from Yoruba philosophy, the artist points to the contrast between the living memory of the body and the linear time of Western thinking. In this collective re-naissance, the past, present and future are one. Ten dancers and a live musician from different towns in Nigeria bring to the performance their own unbridled creativity and the groove of Africa’s biggest city