Rhythm and life on stage

KUILENGA

You push, I pull and no one gets anywhere ... Esther and Olivier Tarpaga demonstrate the futility of fighting in Kuilenga. – Photos by NORAFIFI EHSAN
THE spirit of West Africa took Kuala Lumpur by storm last weekend as dance students, graduates and teachers gathered to watch Kuilenga (which means The Door in the Burkinabe language, Moaga).

Best of all, the performance at the Black Box Theatre at the Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan (Aswara, formerly known as Akademi Seni Kebangsaan) was free since the academy wants to expose Malaysian audiences to diverse and lesser-known dance genres.

Kuilenga was produced by the Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project (BT Dance Project), a contemporary dance company directed by Esther Baker-Tarpaga and Olivier Tarpaga. The husband and wife team founded the intercultural company in 2004 and they are based in Los Angeles and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in Western Africa.

Though Kuilenga was originally a full-length production, stage limitations at the Black Box Theatre meant the couple could only present one segment of this intriguing production that addresses themes of love, immigration, displacement, violence and peace.

Kuilenga, according to Esther and Olivier, is a reflection of their lives as they travel from place to place. While the dance is about how they actually move across time and space, it is also about the lives and movements of other people on earth.

While the choreography is contemporary, the dance also draws movement vocabulary from West African traditional dances such gourmantche (a dance from an ethnic group in Burkina Faso) and sabar (danced to music from Senegal’s sabar drums).

The piece began with two still figures on stage. Then, as one remained still, the other started twitching the upper body, discovering limb after limb before working himself up into a convulsion (movements from gourmantche).

The sudden explosion of drums after a period of silence signalled the first moments of body contact as the couple took turns to roll over each other’s backs.

The dancers energised the stage with pushing and pulling actions that seemed to mimic wild animals butting heads and people fighting each other. By not moving spatially, however, the dancers clearly communicated the message that fights are futile and don’t get anyone anywhere.

Fighting done, they glided away from each other and, after moving one full circle, came together again, ending up locked in an embrace. It was only after this “kiss-and-make-up” scene that we saw the dancers share similar movements – sometimes in unison and sometimes one after the other.

Then, displaying their individualities and identities, they each broke into a variety of West African dances bringing exciting, dynamic, and rhythmic energy to the stage. When the “this-is-me” statement was done, they walked off stage hand-in-hand in a sweet, happy ending.

The Tarpagas were also gave a weeklong workshop at Aswara; participants, comprised of drummers and dancers, showcased what they had learnt in Diansa (celebration dance) and Mandiani (fast dance for young girls).

Workshop partipants show what they learnt with great verve and energy.
Aswara students and graduates made up most of the dance participants while the drummers comprised Aswara students, guest performers Tony Tang (percussion teacher from Sri Cempaka) and teen Andrew Kam (child prodigy listed in the Malaysia Book of Records for passing his Grade 8 percussion exams at the age of nine). It felt like carnival time when the students burst forth on stage, singing, clapping, and dancing to the rhythms of the live drum ensemble led by Olivier on the djembe (a drum from Burkina Faso). It made me think what a great youth programme this would make when I observed how much the kids were enjoying themselves.

All that excess energy that young people have poured out onto stage, carrying a delighted audience along. The movement combinations were simple and easy to learn and that made the dance accessible to everyone, even those who are not trained in dance.

“I never expected the students to be so good at it,” said Olivier, “because this is from a culture totally different from theirs. But they just went all out and enjoyed themselves! Judging from the response to this workshop, we will definitely make plans for more.”