Columbia Dance Center hosts Nora Chipaumire Performance Review – Portrait of myself as my father

Manifesto on African Man

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago presents Zimbabwe-born choreographer Nora Chipaumire who performs with two other dancers, Senegal-born Pape Ibrahima Ndiaye and Jamaican-born Shamar Watt on October 20, 21 and 22.

Grab the earplugs you are offered in the theater. You are going to need them.

With more shouting than dance, intriguing costumes and set, Nora Chipaumire presents what she calls a manifesto to end manifestos—a lamentation not only on her unknown father, but the African male.

From the moment you enter the theater, Chipaumire wants you to focus on the male African body. You step over one of the male performers, tall Shamar Watt, sprawled on the floor at the entranceway.

The other male dancer, Ndiaye, sits in the back of what appears to be a large boxing ring, somewhat in the shadows until the performance is in full swing.

Bright stage lights blind you at first, and then are moved to accent Chipaumire and the other two dancers in a loud moving collage that mixes spots of traditional dance, torso gyrations in every plane, air humps by a codpiece-centric costumed dancer, and above all, shouts in French, English and African tongues. With shouts we are summoned to remember the “rumble in the jungle”, traditional African dances, and the hyper-sexualization of Black male depictions.

Nora Chipaumire's Nightmare

Not a story line per se, it is more a nightmare dream sequence that shows the African male debased until he dies.

Off-the-beaten track, Chipaumire’s emphasis on the physical is actually super-cerebral fare.

If you crave avant garde explorations of dance, this is your show. Don’t expect traditional African dance or a new modern dance alphabet. If you especially are drawn to elegance in choreography this is not your show.

 

Concept, choreography, direction: Nora Chipaumire

Music/soundscore: Philip White

Lighting and costumes: Nora Chipaumire

 

When:

Remaining performances October 21 and 22, 7:30 PM

 

Where:

The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago
1306 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago

 

Tickets:

$30.

Purchase at Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago website 
or by contacting the contacting their Box Office at 312-369-8330.

 

 

 

 

Photos courtesy of Nora Chipaumire, from photographers Elise Fitte Duvall, Grace Antoine Tempe, C. Gennadi Novash, among others.

Amy Munice

About the Author: Amy Munice

Amy Munice is Editor-in-Chief and Co-Publisher of Picture This Post. She covers books, dance, film, theater, music, museums and travel. Prior to founding Picture This Post, Amy was a freelance writer and global PR specialist for decades—writing and ghostwriting thousands of articles and promotional communications on a wide range of technical and not-so-technical topics.

Amy hopes the magazine’s click-a-picture-to-read-a-vivid-account format will nourish those ever hunting for under-discovered cultural treasures. She especially loves writing articles about travel finds, showcasing works by cultural warriors of a progressive bent, and shining a light on bold, creative strokes by fledgling artists in all genres.

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