BOW’T – NEW ORLEANS by Rhodnie Désir & Spirit McIntyre
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Tonight, 8PM,
Cafe Istanbul, $15
2732 St. Claude Ave
The international project BOW’T TRAIL (UNESCO Slave Route Label) is an innovative choreographic, documentary and interactive experience that tells how African cultures and rhythms have unfolded – following the resistance movements of the deported African peoples in the Americas. In each country, the choreographer stays 30 days to re-create the BOW’T piece, which anchors itself in the deep, psychic notions associated with migration and deportation. She collaborates with a local musician and with specialized researchers and community members (musicians, dancers, anthropologists, historians, ethnomusicologists etc).
After two weeks, the film crew supervised by movie director Marie-Claude Fournier arrives to document the process of creation and transmission in the community. Through the choreographer’s approach, we discover another, more positive, angle on the triangular trade legacy, but also the history hiding behind the products and cultures ubiquitous in our daily life, such as coffee, chocolate, Reggae, Blues and Jazz!
In 2019, the project will have been deployed in six countries of the Americas and the documented content will be disseminated both in a scenic and digital way (the national broadcaster Radio-Canada), in order to reach the general public as well as the academic community.
After showing in MARTINIQUE, BRAZIL, HAITI, CANADA and MEXICO, the Choreographer Rhodnie Désir is in New Orleans developing her 7th version of the BOW’T piece, entitled : BOW’T-NEW ORLEANS. For this creation, she roots her movements in local African American rhythms with the collaboration of the remarkable, strongly intuitive and inspiring musician: Spirit McIntyre!
This collaboration, created entirely on Bulbancha land (New Orleans) after only 13 days of work at the Tekrema Center for Art and Culture, inspired both artists to connect on the highest levels of vibration to elevate the dialogue between the Black community of today and their Ancestors. This piece will be followed by a Q&A. For more info check the facebook event here.
