Papalagui Exposed delivers an original, moving evening of dance-theatre from the mind of acclaimed choreographer Windship Boyd that explores Western culture’s obsession with nature, money, and time.

The “Papalagui” is a Samoan term that literally translates to “he who breaks through the sky,” referencing the giant white sail on a boat that first brought Europeans to islands of Samoa. By deconstructing Erich Scheurmann’s controversial 1920 book Der Papalagui, Boyd’s team of dancer-actors magnify the norms of everyday life we take for granted in today’s society by examining them from an outsider’s perspective.

Audiences are invited to embark on a journey through the grounds of OZ Arts while visiting various “exhibits” in the spirit of a 19th Century World Exposition. Art students from Glencliff High School will exhibit alongside respected local and international actors and dancers to highlight the generational rigidity of Western culture and question if our “progress” has done more harm than good. Blurring the lines between historical fact and fiction, between environmental and instinctual, Papalagui Exposed is a visceral theatrical experience that will leave the audience questioning the very cultural fabric that defines Western civilization.

Windship Boyd trained as a classical and modern dancer in the U.S, discovered the world of contemporary dance and hip-hop in France and spent extensive time studying West African dance. In 2005, she received a three-month scholarship from UNESCO to create work in Senegal, which then toured the country. She has since returned each year to West Africa as a student, teacher and choreographer. She co-created several works both in France and in Burkina Faso with the musician Sory Diabaté. In France, her company Itchy Feet had a five-year residency in Lyon where she co-directed dance-theatre works with directors Claudio Colangelo and Matthieu Loos. During this time she also led seven editions of the dance parade for La Biennale de la Danse in Lyon, the largest dance parade in the world outside of Rio de Jenerio, which engages up to 500 amateur dancers in multicultural celebration. Now calling Nashville home, Windship is a resident artist with Metro Parks’ Dance Division and aims to create meaningful ways to share stories and traditions from cultures across the globe.

Christophe Konkobo is both a practitioner and a scholar of theatre. He trained formally as an actor at the Ecole de Théâtre de l’UNEDO (Burkina Faso), and developed as a stage director in the West African countries of Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. He has collaborated with the Theatre Department at the University of Iowa to perform plays by writers hosted by the International Writing Program.