"We treat the land we live on well because it has not been given to us by our fathers, but has been lent to us by our children."
Ancient Maasai Proverb
Dating back to 1990, Fernando Anuang’A made his debut with the trio Rare Watts, which disbanded after a few years, blending traditional Maasai dance styles with frenetic techno rhythms. In his roots—those of the people living in the highlands between Kenya and Tanzania—he finds the faith and strength of initiation rituals to channel and amplify them into a gesture and vocality of great primitive power.
In the performance presented at the Teatro Sociale in Trento, he aims to exemplify how the most remote and rooted tradition can transform and embody contemporaneity. The projection towards the future is, in fact, a constant of Maasai culture. Thus, Anuang’A transforms ancient songs into the essential engine of a transformation that demands dialogue with his era.
On stage, the choreographer-dancer himself is accompanied by six vocalists who chant songs of birth and death, initiation and war, work and play: without musical accompaniment, the choir begins with the olo-aranyani, the lead singer, while Anuang’A's painted body contracts and stretches in characteristic vertical jumps, chaining strength and agility to the vocal rhythm, the motor of movement. This is the authentic expression of his dance; it is the narrative of the ritual secrets of his people.
Fernando Anuang’A, a Kenyan dancer and choreographer, is a self-taught and atypical artist who has represented his country at every official event since the beginning of his career in 1990. He organizes and participates in events for the African Heritage Company (Kenya) and collaborates as a dancer and choreographer on various projects in South Africa, Seychelles, Réunion, and the Netherlands. Since 2000, he has resided in France but regularly returns to Kenya, where he has trained a group of seven Maasai dancers. The creation of three performances has allowed him to present his work, thanks also to the support of Cultures France and Alliances Françaises, in Djibouti, Malawi, Tanzania, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya, and Burundi. In France, he has participated, among other events, in the Festival Off d'Avignon and the Murat Festival; he has presented his creations at the Pavillon Noir in Aix-en-Provence, at the CND of Carolyn Carlson in Roubaix, and at the Espace Cardin at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris. Among his latest creations is Traditional Future, produced in Kenya in Wayne MacGregor's studio.
www.anuanga.com
