Choreographers Decolonize Dance and Exoticism

Contemporary choreographers are reinterpreting modernist works to challenge exoticism and colonial ideologies. Faustin Linyekula, with the Centre chorégraphique national-Ballet de Lorraine, presents "La Création du monde, 1923-2012," a response to the 1923 ballet by Jean Börlin and Rolf de Maré, which used African motifs from Blaise Cendrars and Fernand Léger. Linyekula inverts the original: bodies are visible, costumes simple, and exoticism stripped away. The ballet was reconstructed in 2000 by Millicent Hodson and Kenneth Archer. Other works include Robyn Orlin's "Have You Hugged, Kissed And Respected Your Brown Venus Today?" (2011), addressing the story of Saartjie Baartman, the "Hottentot Venus" exhibited in Europe. Steven Cohen's "The Cradle of Humankind" features his 90-year-old black nanny Nomsa Dhlamini on stage. French choreographers Rachid Ouramdane and Latifa Laâbissi also engage with colonial history: Ouramdane's "Exposition universelle" and Laâbissi's "Self Portrait Camouflage" and "Loredreamsong" deconstruct stereotypes. These performances were presented in France, including at the Festival d'automne. The article references the exhibition "Exhibitions, l'invention du sauvage" at the musée du Quai-Branly, Paris, which documents human zoos and the colonial gaze.