Robyn Orlin / Garage Dance Ensemble / uKhoiKhoi

A colourful, energetic performance with dance, live music and visuals about the impact of colonisation

Imagine a flower field in a desert. That is one treasure of Okiep, a former mining region that embodies the history of colonised South Africa. The inimitable, rebellious South African choreographer Robyn Orlin explores in ›…how in salts desert is it possible to blossom…‹ the mechanisms of violence and oppression in the area. Together with five dancers of Garage Dance Ensemble and two musicians from the band uKhoiKhoi, Orlin mixes fiction and reality, allowing the message to emerge: Everbody has the right to blossom.

Choreography Robyn Orlin Dance Garage Dance Ensemble Dancers Garage Dance Ensemble Faroll Coetzee, Esmé Marthinus, Georgia Julies, Byron Klassen, Crystal Finck Music written and performed by uKhoiKhoi (Yogin Sullaphen and Anelisa Stuurman) Costume Birgit NepplTechnical Direction Thabo Pule Video Éric Perroys Lighting Management Jean Marc L'Hostis Lighting Design Vito Walter Text Translation Maurice Salem, ACI Administration, Booking Damien Valette Production Tour and Logistics Bertille Zimmermann Mentor Garage Band Ensemble Alfred Hinkel Creative Director Garage Band Ensemble John Linden Resident Choreographer Garage Band Ensemble Byron Klassen Production Garage Band Ensemble Nicolette Moses

Produced by City Theater & Dance Group and Damien Valette Prod.

Co-production: City Theater & Dance Group, Festival Montpellier Danse 2024, Festival de Marseille, Chaillot, Théâtre national de la danse, Paris, Théâtre Garonne, Scène européenne, Toulouse.

…how in salts desert is it possible to blossom… is supported by Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d'Ile de France and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.