Avignon via Afrique #2

Politically engaged theater proving to be a strong current of Avignon 2007, the presence of Faustin Linyekula at this edition is a natural choice. From his native Kisangani in the RDC, to Kinshasa, Nairobi, Paris and back to the northeastern reaches of the Congo River, the dancer and choreographer is driven, he says, by the desire to help the people of his hometown dream again, in a country ravaged by 5 years of a deadly civil war that has already claimed the lives of 3.5 million people. Linyekula’s background parallels the vicissitudes of African history in the 20th century: raised to respect the customs and rites of his elders while educated by Catholic missionaries, a football fanatic and a choirboy, a Zaïrois and/or a Congolese, depending on who runs the economically poorest and geologically richest country in the world, a habitué and beneficiary of the largesse of the network of French Cultural Centers in Africa, a reinventer of himself from day to day via the means at hand, from literature and theater to dance and video. These many facets of himself and his concerns are explored in the duo of pieces he presents at Avignon : a choreography for four dancers, “Dinozord”, and an exercise in pure storytelling, “Le Festival des mensonges”. In the first, a work prompted by the death from plague of the choreographer’s older brother Kabako, Linyekula and the young dancers he trained for this piece, movingly treat the challenges of African youth and the question of the future in an area of the world where uncertainty and fear are daily companions. In the second, also a tribute to Kabako, Linyekula spins stories such as generations of storytellers before him have done: at the heart of a community, with live music and refreshments part and parcel of a shared, all-night long performance. Even at its most fantastic, the African tale is always a reflection on reality, and the “lies” Linyekula fabricates tell the incredible story of the heart of “darkest” Africa. With these shows, part of the aptly named “Dialogue Series” of works developed through Linyekula’s nomadic ateliers known as Studios Kabako, the performer proves that his art is above all a state-of-mind, with the power to create, change and, most importantly, dream.
Photo: Christophe Raynaud de Lage/Festival d'Avignon