lions will roar, swans will fly, angels will wrestle heaven, rains will break: gukurahundi
nora chipaumire
Artist BioChoreographer Nora Chipaumire collaborates with the legendary musician and poet Thomas Mapfumo to explore the nature of art created in exile. With his band, The Blacks Unlimited, Mapfumo creates a soundscape for the stunning Chipaumire and fellow dancer Souleymane Badolo. lions will roar, swans will fly, angels will wrestle heaven, rains will break: gukurahundi integrates contemporary and traditional forms of Zimbabwean dance and music, as well as original animation by Romain Tardy and Joelle Dietrick, costumes by Naoko Nagata and lights by Olivier Clausse dit Maurice. The work reexamines the art of Zimbabwe over the course of that country’s economic and political downward spiral. Chipaumire states, “I wanted to make a work that tackled the African brands: Africa as violent/Africa as disease and dying/Africa as famine and hunger/Africa as exotic/happy/Africa the silent/ancient/darkness. I felt the shame and sadness of my fellow Zimbabweans, uprooted and on the run. I wanted to hold us all accountable.” lions will roar… is presented by 651 ARTS, in association with Dance Theater Workshop.
nora chipaumire
Brooklyn, NY
Born in Mutare, Zimbabwe and based in NYC, nora chipaumire has been challenging and embracing stereotypes of Africa and the black performing body, art and aesthetics since she started making dances in 1998. Her current and ongoing work includes a digital book project, nhaka – a theory, technology, practice and process to her artistic work. chipaumire is a 2018 Guggenheim fellow and a three-time Bessie Award winner.