YEBO

“In my mother’s womb, I heard the first drum beat.”—Pulga Muchochoma

Experience power and depth of movement in this compelling double bill from acclaimed Mozambican-Canadian dancer and choreographer Pulga Muchochoma, performed with a company of 5.

NGOMA, a solo rooted in Pulga’s ancestral lineage, takes its name from the Chuabo word for “drum” and poses a profound question: Is the drum I danced to in my mother’s womb the same beat I follow in the world as a dancer?

INKOSI, meaning “king” in Zulu, is a stirring ensemble work inspired by the experiences of Nelson Mandela. It explores the brutal realities of Mandela’s time in prison, and honours his unwavering perseverance, resilience, and vision for a just South Africa

A note from Pulga Muchochoma:

This production is a double bill of two of my recent creations( NGOMA and INKOSI). Even though Inkosi started in 2014, when I was commissioned to create a trio for the Art Starts and the Neighbourhood Arts Network, that was the moment when I decided to create a work about Nelson Mandela (Madiba) .

INKOSI, the Zulu word for “King”, became five-minute trio that used the biography of Nelson Mandela as its source material, and explored the brutal reality Nelson Mandela endured, the realities of living through apartheid, and his perseverance, resilience and vision for a better South Africa and Africa in general.

Movement-wise, I drew from a fusion of traditional dances from South Africa, and my country of origin, Mozambique) with the contemporary Dance style. After I spent the last few years developing my choreographic voice, I realized that this piece had the potential to be much longer and richer.

That’s when I decided to explore the idea of transforming the dancers into characters that represent the people that have lived and experienced the struggles of being held in captivity and also the work needed for its story to feel well supported and richer in order to make the story clear.

I wanted to highlight Mandela more as King of his people and for him to be seen more than a prisoner by his fellow inmates and the audience members.

That’s how the title of this work came about.. INKOSI ( King)

The other piece is entitled NGOMA which is a solo self-choreographed by Pulga Muchochoma. It was first created as a 5-minute solo presented by Lua Shayenne at Wassa! Wassa! Africa Dance & Drum. The initial piece was 5 minutes of non-stop dancing with the intention to dance to every single beat at the same time. The new extended version toggles between making the choice of dancing to every single beat at the same time and ignoring every single beat at the same time while noticing the relationship this creates in the body. As always, my work leans on the hands of my Ancestors.

My mothers voice became one of the biggest influences into the development of this work as a way for me to revisit my connection to the place where it all started.

I’m my mother’s womb. I heard the first drum beat.

Ngoma means drum in many African languages including my own language ( Chuabo)

Is the drum that I danced to in my mother’s womb the same one that I continue to explore through my life now as a dancer?

That’s the question that keeps the curiosity of creativity alive.

Ngoma will always live in me….

I would love to take this moment to say a Special thanks to all my collaborators for their immense contributions and thanks to Public Energy for inviting us to share our stories with you all.

Yebooo ( Yesss)

Pulga Muchochoma

www.pulgadance.com

Below, a 10 minute African Dance class with Pulga Muchochoma that you can take right now from home: