Programme of Performances: Voices of Spirits, 40+9, Wailwalkers: A Mourning in Motion with Antoine Danfa, and Blind Seer

An evening of four performances in the garden of Théodore Monod Museum will feature contemporary interpretations of spiritual practices across Africa and Asia. The dancers, visual artists, sound artists and musicians will meet for the first time in Dakar to present collaborative interpretations of spiritual practices. These collaborations are enriched by living traditions and multi-disciplinary forms.

Voices of Spirits
A piece conceptualised by singer and composer Michael Schiefel, will be performed with singer Cheikh Kane and dancer Fatou Cissé. They will explore the meeting of expressions influenced by European classical music and Senegalese Sufism. This performance will be the culmination of Schiefel’s artist residency in Dakar with Trames.

40 + 9
A piece conceptualised by Việt Lê, will be performed with dancers Yoro Diallo and Demba Ndiaye. The concept is rooted in the Vietnamese ritual lễ 49 ngày (49 days), when the living perform a ritual to help the dead move into the next world. The work is inspired by salpuri (shaman dance), nongkok (farmer's dance), and sitkimkut (Korean shaman rituals of the dead); in Dakar, it will be in conversation with the local memorial ritual of 40 days.

Wailwalkers: A Mourning in Motion with Antoine Danfa
Chiara Lee and freddie Murphy will present Wailwalkers: A Mourning in Motion with Antoine Danfa, a Mankagne contemporary dancer and singer, and performers from company Troupe di Nathane Kabouka: Julie Mathilde Malack, Julie Ntab, Victorine Ndeki, and Albert Djamy. The performance is based on Lee and Murphy’s research of songs of lamentation from around the world. Some wailers mourn the dead, while others commemorate the loss of cities, communities, and ways of life. The work invites audiences to gather in a shared moment of grief: a cathartic performance that transforms sorrow into collective strength. This piece is part of a project developed with Davide Quadrio, director of Museo d’Arte Orientale, Torino.

Blind Seer
Blind Seer, conceptualised by Gustavo Ciríaco, will be performed with Bigué Ndiaye, Ndèye Gueye, Mohamadou Lamine Damba, Dibor Biaye, and
Alexandre Garcia. The work is inspired by the transitory construction of space during religious rituals, among them Haitian voodoo. This first chapter of an on-going research will explore how an invisible panorama of ritual unfolds through gestures and actions. Through an evocative blend of music, dance, and visual theater, the performance will envelop audiences in a mystical landscape where the intangible becomes tangible. Blind Seer is part of Covered by Sky, a collection of interactive installations and performances centered on the relationships between landscape and art, experience and poetic discourse.