Nelisiwe Xaba

In Urban Scénos Dakar

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Curiosity killed the Cat

I (Nelisiwe Xaba from South Africa) cannot stop but feel uncomfortable when I’m walking through the narrow dusty streets (as the Westerners would call artist from the ghettoes or same areas) of the village of Ouakam. I wonder if I am not perpetuating the very same ills that poverty tourism does. For example, a tourist arrives in a poverty stricken environment, takes exotic poverty textured photographs as a trophy from his or her trip, similar to what an artist would do. How much of my encounter with the local community benefits them? How much of my being here satisfies the same thirst the colonialist had? Can art find a different approach than that of tourism…

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Après une très longue attente Nelisiwe Xaba est sortie de la maison pour distribuer à chacun un cadeau de graines et de proteïnes / After a very long wait Nelisiwe Xaba get out of the house to deliver to each a gift of seed and protein

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Nelisiwe Xaba

Afrique du Sud / South Africa
danseuse, chorégraphe / dancer, choreographer

Nelisiwe Xaba est une des seules chorégraphes sur le continent africain à travailler avec des objets. Son travail, sa danse, son espace, sa construction spatiale est toujours “nourrie” par des objets qui nous ramènent à nos habitudes quotidiennes. Une autre particularité de Nelisiwe, c’est de devenir comme un “objet” dans son travail. Né à Soweto,  Xaba Nelisiwe a étudié à la Fondation de Johannesburg Dance. En 1996, elle reçoit une bourse pour le Ballet Rambert à Londres, et  rejoint la Pact Dance Company en 1997 où elle travaille en partenariat avec le chorégraphe sud africain Orlin Robyn, le plasticien Rodney Place et la réalisatrice Sophie Loucachevsky. Depuis 2001, Xaba Nelisiwe travaille à développer son propre univers : En tant qu’artiste solo, elle développe un point de vue critique sur la  société tout en permettant de relativisés les clichés du corps africain comme dans ses solos “Sakhozi says NON to the Venus” and “They look at me and that’s all they think”.

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Nelisiwe Xaba is one of the few choreographers on the African continent to work with objects. Her work, her dance, her space, her space construction is always “fed” by objects that bring us back to our daily routine. Another feature of Nelisiwe is becoming as an “object” in his work.

Born in Soweto, Xaba Nelisiwe studied at the Johannesburg Dance Foundation. In 1996, she received a scholarship to the Ballet Rambert in London, and joined the Pact Dance Company in 1997 where she worked in partnership with the choreographer Robyn Orlin South African, the artist Rodney Place and director Sophie Loucachevsky. Since 2001, Xaba Nelisiwe working to develop its own universe: As a solo artist, she develops a critical perspective on society while allowing relativized the clichés of African body as in his solos “Sakhozi says NO to the Venus “and” They look at me and that’s all They think “.

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http://www.nelisiwexaba.co.za/