My Body, My Archive

January 24 & 25

Tickets from $25

See more and save! This performance is included in the 5-Show Spring Package ($120) and Flex Package (from $165). Learn more.

“Breathtaking political art…the greatest single example of solo dancing I’ve seen in a long time.”
— Los Angeles Times

“Live-wire intensity…Linyekula, rubbery and supple, shows an eerie flair for seeming to float in the air”
— The New York Times

“Quite possibly the most important artist working on the African continent today.”
— Frieze Magazine

The riveting and elegant work of Congolese choreographer and writer Faustin Linyekula nurtures hope in the face of the ongoing legacy of war and ruin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a gripping blend of exquisite and sometimes frenetic movement, poetic text, and evocative live music by potent trumpeter Heru Shabaka-Ra of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Linyekula summons ancestors, friendships, and political struggles — reckoning with what it means to seek beauty, to write or sing or dance, when surrounded by violence and loss.

Linyekula combines the power of theater, the expressive force of dance and sharp political critique to explore post-colonial reality with courage and humor. His international award-winning performances have been commissioned by some of the world’s most prestigious cultural festivals and institutions, including the Tate Museum in London, and at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, as well as The Metropolitan Museum. He has created work for the Comédie Française, the Lorraine ballets, the National Ballet of Portugal CNB, and famed opera director Peter Sellars.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Faustin Linyekula is known as a dancer, choreographer, but he calls himself a storyteller. He tells his stories through writing, theater, dance, still or moving images.

In 2001, after eight years abroad (Kenya, Indian Ocean, Europe), he returned to the ruins of his native country, Democratic Republic of Congo, former Zaire, former Belgian Congo, former Congo Free State, private property of Leopold II, King of Belgians. He wanted to be as close as possible to these stories of the Congo that haunt all his shows; but it was also a challenge against the desperation that every year pushes thousands of Congolese out of the country, never to return. Thus were born the Studios Kabako. Not an artistic company, but a place. A refuge for artists from the Congo and beyond, offering long-term accompaniment, from training to production and touring. A space to federate creative energies, regardless of artistic disciplines (dance, theater, music, or cinema).

Linyekula’s work has been shown in theaters, festivals and museums across Europe, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, including the MoMA and the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Africa Museum in Tervuren, the Tate Modern in London, the MUCEM in Marseille, Festival d’Avignon, the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, New Zealand Festival, Sharjah Biennial, Théâtre de la Ville or Festival d’Automne in Paris. He was the artist of the city in Lisbon in 2016, and co-associate artist for Holland Festival in 2019. He received the 2007 Principal Award from the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, the 2014 CurryStone Design Prize, the 2018 Inaugural Soros Arts Fellowship, and the 2019 Tällberg / Eliasson Global Leadership Prize. He’s currently an associate artist at Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris.