Holland Festival: Exótica
In the early 20th century, many dancers and choreographers worldwide enjoyed great success in Europe. Yet they fell into obscurity because they did not fit into the Western canon. With EXÓTICA, choreographer Amanda Piña breathes new life into their work. The performance can be seen in International Theater Amsterdam.
Holland Festival: Exótica
About Exótica
EXOTICA is an exuberant ritual, a seance of sorts, where ancestral dancers, femmes and queer people of colour from the past and present challenge the audience's gaze. Reenactments, invocation, exorcism and celebration take place in the live performance.
La Sarabia (1878-1988), Nyota Inyoka (1896-1971), François (Féral) Benga (1906-1957) and Leila Bederkhan (1903-1986) – once travelled through Europe to present their dance. What kind of work did these dancers and choreographers make at the time? How can we understand that work today? What is left of their context now?
Amanda Piña: 'With this research, I would like to get to know my direct ancestors: female and queer fellow artists, dancers and choreographers of colour who lived and worked in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. This work is intended to bring them back to life. It is a spiritual search for the consequences of the white norm, in which it is conceived as an internalized, invisible to itself ideology, an unmarked and unnamed position.'
Dates and times
| Tuesday 6 June | 20:30 |
| Wednesday 7 June | 20:30 |