Out Of the Ordinary: Festival of Lies and Les Studios Kabako
This is a draft, a work in progress, but I thought I'd post what I have so far, because of lack of time to finish it immediately:
Out Of the Ordinary: Festival of Lies and Les Studios Kabako
Faustin Linyekula Ngoy is the Artistic Director, Choreographer and Performer of Les Studios Kabako, Democratic Republic of Congo. His company performed their multimedia performance at the N4th Theater on November 23 & 24, as part of the Out Of the Ordinary Festival (OOO). The group spent a week in Albuquerque, culimnating in their weekend performances.
Faustin led a Saturday lunchtime discussion at N4th on Africa: Arts and Social Change. His work is a multimedia integration of dance, history and politics, and he spoke of life in the Congo. Born in 1974, he said that growing up in a dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seiko seemed normal. Individual entities disappeared in this society. There was only one individual in society, the Leader, who thought for everyone. They didn't have to make decisions. Under these conditions, one canot talk of democracy if there aren't responsible individuals.
The history of Congo has been a stormy one, and one in which the country went through several changes of names, along with changes in leadership. It is this history which is portrayed in the performance of Festival of Lies. The Congo became a colony of Belgium, or more specifically, the private property of King Leopold II, in 1876, and was known at the Free State of Congo. From that time, until independence in 1960, Belgium exploited the mineral resources, principally rubber, and the African population which provided the work force for the industry.
Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese Prime Minister, was assasinated six months after independence by the CIA. A series of dictatorial presidents followed, notably Mobutu Sese Seko, who was Marshal and President of Zaire (Congo renamed) from 1965-1997. After a civil war, Laurent Desire Kavila became President of the Democratic Republic of Cong0 in 1997, until his recent death, when his son, Joseph Kabila took over. The ongoing war ended officially in 2003, with a government consisting of one president and four vice-presidents. Elections were heald in 2006, and the country is "relatively at peace."
Out Of the Ordinary: Festival of Lies and Les Studios Kabako
Faustin Linyekula Ngoy is the Artistic Director, Choreographer and Performer of Les Studios Kabako, Democratic Republic of Congo. His company performed their multimedia performance at the N4th Theater on November 23 & 24, as part of the Out Of the Ordinary Festival (OOO). The group spent a week in Albuquerque, culimnating in their weekend performances.
Faustin led a Saturday lunchtime discussion at N4th on Africa: Arts and Social Change. His work is a multimedia integration of dance, history and politics, and he spoke of life in the Congo. Born in 1974, he said that growing up in a dictatorship under Mobutu Sese Seiko seemed normal. Individual entities disappeared in this society. There was only one individual in society, the Leader, who thought for everyone. They didn't have to make decisions. Under these conditions, one canot talk of democracy if there aren't responsible individuals.
The history of Congo has been a stormy one, and one in which the country went through several changes of names, along with changes in leadership. It is this history which is portrayed in the performance of Festival of Lies. The Congo became a colony of Belgium, or more specifically, the private property of King Leopold II, in 1876, and was known at the Free State of Congo. From that time, until independence in 1960, Belgium exploited the mineral resources, principally rubber, and the African population which provided the work force for the industry.
Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese Prime Minister, was assasinated six months after independence by the CIA. A series of dictatorial presidents followed, notably Mobutu Sese Seko, who was Marshal and President of Zaire (Congo renamed) from 1965-1997. After a civil war, Laurent Desire Kavila became President of the Democratic Republic of Cong0 in 1997, until his recent death, when his son, Joseph Kabila took over. The ongoing war ended officially in 2003, with a government consisting of one president and four vice-presidents. Elections were heald in 2006, and the country is "relatively at peace."
Labels: Africa, Dance, Democratic Republic of Congo, politics, social change
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