Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Looping the Loop


Looping the Loop:
From African Dance to American Hop Hop and Back Again
Video Installation
In collaboration w/ Dinozord & Petna Ndaliko Katondolo

Le Fresnoy / Studio National des Arts Contemporains
June 12th - July 30th

In Looping the Loop Dinozord, a young Hip Hop dancer from Kinshasa (DR Congo) traces the roots of this trans-historical and trans-national dance form, looking to traditional African dance as well as to forms of entertainment dance from Broadway and Hollywood to MTV.

Presented as an installation, the life-size video projection is displayed next to a still image taken from a film by Congolese filmmaker Petna Katondolo, who’s reportages on life in Goma (East DRC) for Metropolis TV (NL), are a source of inspiration for this project. The image and the ambient sound that accompany it, were taken during a dance competition he organized in October 2008. Simultaneous with a regional conflict backed by international players over the area’s natural resources, the dance competition was attended by thousands of local spectators as well as refugees displaced by the war.

Looping the Loop is a new video installation produced by Le Fresnoy (2009) Concept: Ula Sickle / In collaboration with: Dinozord & Petna Ndaliko Katondolo / Sound design: Yann Leguay / Camera: Vincent Pinckaers