This creation draws its essence from the street, fusing with the effervescent creativity of young Congolese artists. Mariusca La Slameuse makes a striking entrance, painting a picture of reality with her cutting line “Congo kaka boye,” meaning “Congo, that’s the way it is”, a cry that resonates in harmony with “Mboka Mboka” the Kikongo word for “the country”.
“Mboka Mboka” is an uppercut, a testimony to the daily struggle of Congolese youth, a fight against weariness, submission, oblivion in alcohol, and abandonment. It’s a vibrant tribute to the creativity of young people who choose art to survive and bear witness. “Mboka Mboka” embodies an hour of dance that sinks deep into you, an energy that permeates you, moves you, dazzles you, leaves you breathless, just like a 24-hour day on the streets of Brazzaville.
On stage, five male and one female dancer represent this generation seeking its own path between alcohol, religion, sex, wanderlust and disillusionment. They carry within them a rage for life, a vital need to create. The heady music accompanies them on this relentless quest, uniting their bodies in a collective struggle. Individualities persist, but the bodies coexist with a shared emotion and vibrancy. The dance brings them together, transforming them into a collective body, valiant, proud, tireless, carrying within it the joys and sorrows of everyday life.
For the Congolese, art and life are one: every life is a performance. As Gervais Tomadiatunga says, “We grew up with civil wars. And it is with dance and music that we are rebuilding ourselves”. In Brazzaville, as in Kinshasa, dance and music have served as a valve for forgetting the scars left by the civil wars of 1993, 1997 and 1998. Dancing is an act of liberation, survival, testimony and existence for this new generation.
Practical information:
Saturday 27th April 2024
8pm
Outdoor Theater
Free of charge