Faustin Linyekula has spent the last ten years telling stories, stories of the Congo, of the Democratic Republic of Congo, ex Zaire, ex Belgian Congo, beings and destinies shattered, assaulted, irreparably marked by the extreme history…

Yet how can we leave words aside if we want the memory of the body to speak? How can we leave travelling companions like Kabako, Vumi, Papa Rovinsky… aside if we want to come back to ourselves? How can we find dance again, or a certain, slightly romantic idea of dance, as it could be just before or after the words, just before or after the scream, just before or after the tale? On this route to oneself, Faustin Linyekula will take a train that no longer exists, whose rails have been swallowed up by the forest, he will go on a quest for dances that are no longer danced, forbidden by the god of miracles and of spiritual awakening, he will cross the path of a great master of percussion who no longer plays, who has become a pastor…

“If solo work hardly inspired me in spite of a few attempts that were quickly warded off, like the “Radio Okapi” project, where I invited artists every evening to accompany me or the performances of “Cargo” that were proposed these last few years in galleries and studios, it's because my work was first and foremost a place for sharing and maybe even a place where one could be a little less alone… But, today, I have this great need to come back to myself. To bring out my first memories, return to Obilo, this little village at 80 kilometres from Kisangani where I would go with my sister in the train to meet up with my father. What's left of my father's house? After all these years of war, do the people still dance when night falls? Dances that, when I was a child, I was forbidden to take part in ? »

Updating: September 2011

Born  in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, the dancer and  choreographer Faustin Linyekula combines the power of theatre, the  expressive force of dance and sharp political critique to explore  post-colonial reality with courage and humour.

Faustin  Linyekula grew up and studied literature and theatre in Kisangani.  Because of the political troubles, he moved to Nairobi and co-founded  the first contemporary dance company in Kenya. A prize awarded by the  Angola International Dance Festival opened the doors to the  international dance scene, and he was invited to present Tales Off the Mud Walls at the 2002 Summer Tanz Festival in Vienna. French audiences discovered his work at the 2007 Avignon Festival with Le Festival des mensonges.  Despite his emerging international career, Faustin Linyekula decided to  go back to DRC to found Studios Kabako in Kinshasa, a multidisciplinary  training, production and distribution centre that now operates out of  Kisangani. Faustin Linyekula regularly teaches in Africa, the USA and  Europe (Paris, CNDC Angers, Impulstanz, etc.) In 2007 he was awarded the  Grand Prix de la Fondation Prince Claus for Culture and Development,  and in 2014 the Grand Prix de la Fondation CurryStone for his work at  Studios Kabako. In 2016 he was appointed Associate Artist for the City  of Lisbon.

Source : Festival de Marseille

More information: http://www.kabako.org 

Since 2001, the National Center for Dance (CND) has been making recordings of its shows and educational programming and has created resources from these filmed performances (interviews, danced conferences, meetings with artists, demonstrations, major lessons, symposia specialized, thematic arrangements, etc.).