It begins in darkness is a dance full of ghosts. In this stark, stripped back performance, five dancers move through mysterious and experimental rites of passage, channelling past, present and future tensions through their bodies and voices. As if to exorcise the haunted house of history, the dancers whisper, jump, wrestle, shiver, wail and laugh, filling the space with horrors, both real and imagined. It begins in darkness is an environment for processing the fear, anger and confusion which arise from the histories of slavery and colonialism that haunt the present.
Dancers: Rhys Dennis, Adrienne Ming, Mayowa Ogunnaike, Rose Sall Sao and Natifah White Conceived and directed by: Seke Chimutengwende Choreography and text: Seke Chimutengwende with the dancers Creative input from Alethia Antonia Dramaturgy: Charlie Ashwell Lighting design: Marty Langthorne Costume design: Annie Pender Producer: Eve Veglio-Hüner
Companies and organisations we work in partnership with include:
Supported by
Arts Council England Project Grants, The Place, Dance4, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Impermanence, Bluecoat, University of Roehampton, Sadler’s Wells and Chats Palace
Initial support from Wainsgate Dances, Battersea Arts Centre and Newstead Abbey/ Dancing Museums