You may remember the Ella Poema project from the 2018 La Mercè festivities, or the stage pieces and short films of the project that were also presented at the Mercat de les Flors during the third edition of the Africa Moment International Meeting of Performing Arts 2019. This time it is the international performers Rokhaya Thioune and Amie Mbye (Ambassador of Dance 2021 from the Norwegian organisation Dansens Dager) who take to the stage with a choreography that reminds us that we are never alone and that there is a reality that surrounds us and has much to do with the lives of those who preceded us, ancestors who live on a spiritual plane but who also accompany us in this earthly world which is the territory in which our fears dwell. Fear of two essential moments of existence - birth and death - and the way we relate to our ancestors are the theme of this contemporary dance piece that is part of the multidisciplinary project Ella Poema, from creator and choreographer Aïda Colmenero Dïaz.
Ella Poema is a project inspired by poems written by women, created and produced in Africa by a new generation of performing arts creators. It is a revolutionary artistic proposal for its gender and post-colonial vision that, since 2013, has been showcasing the work of women creators from more than a dozen African countries on the international scene. The creators of Ella Poema are unique and pioneering artists who transform a literary score into body and audiovisual language. So far, as part of Ella Poema, Aïda Colmenero Dïaz has created twenty short films on dance, six choreographic pieces and photographic series presented on stages such as the Teatros del Canal, Tenerife Auditorium, Potsdammer Tanztage or the San Francisco Dance Film Festival. Each piece of the Ella Poema project uses different languages to connect African artists with verses from authors such as the author of November 2: Stella Diaz Varin, a Chilean poet who disappeared in 2006 and who was nicknamed La Colorina, and El quitador de miedos on Radio Ensueño (Spain).
Aïda Colmenero Dïaz is a creator, actress, choreographer, dancer, film maker and performing arts curator. She is the only Spanish and Spanish-speaking disciple of the choreographer and creator of the famous Ecole des sables Germaine Acogny, Golden Lion at the 2021 Venice Biennale. Colmenero Dïaz is also the artistic director of Africa Moment, the first International Meeting of Performing Arts from Contemporary Africa in Spain, which is held each year in Barcelona.
A creation produced in Dakar (Senegal) by Yakart.
With the support of Africa Moment, Casa África, Goethe Dakar Institute, Spanish Embassy in Dakar, Aula Cervantes, Sunu Street Project, Maison Aïssa Dione, Hotel Sokhamon, Acción Cultural Española.
Director and choreographer: Aïda Colmenero Dïaz Performance: Rokhaya Thioune, Amie Mbye Video: Siaka S.Traoré Music: Yakart, Yande Codou Sene Costumes: Cheikha Sigil (Dakar) Photography: Edgar de Melo
