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© Constantin Trommlitz

FUNK: A Cosmic Horizon

Christian Guerematchi / ICK
Wed 15 Nov ’23 - Sat 18 Nov ’23
The dance performance FUNK is a physical approach to the psyche in search of reconnection.
Wed 15 Nov ’23
-
Sat 18 Nov ’23

FUNK is how bodies move together, how they make themselves be heard and how they connect with each other. The groove of the music movement funk is a metaphor for physical behavior, a passed on culture of sound, a dance and the smell of the body in motion. Therefore, FUNK is a cosmic experience that brings together the vibrations of the past, the present and the future.

The musical philosophy of Sun Ra, expressed in this performance, embraces the 'ancestral' feminine energy from which we as humans are born and which can heal us. An energy that liberates the black body and connects it with resilient identity, lost culture, stolen wisdom and forbidden authenticity. 

Choreographer Christian Guerematchi shows that the body recognizes the cultural traditions that are in our blood. The body unconsciously reacts to internalized trauma, which is passed down from generation to generation. The consequence for bodies of color is therefore evident in the wearing of 'white masks'; as depicted in Frantz Fanon's book 'Black Skin, White Masks'.

Four displaced dancers are on the search for their mothership connection in a cultural aesthetic combined with science fiction. They are on a journey looking for a connection that takes them deep under their own skin and goes beyond the earth itself: a connection with the cosmos. 

The group of four performers and a soloist express themselves through dance and elements of live music that leads to a euphoric release. FUNK makes room for their authentic grandeur and their truth. On the sounds of Chelsea Laverne, the rhythm of the funk opens the portal to the cosmos. Inspired by the emotions and insights contained in Fanon's words, and the poetic lyrics of Sun Ra, Guerematchi makes a physical translation of the search for self-awareness.

  • 55 min.

Credits

concept and choreography Christian Guerematchi performance Revé Terborg, Aaron Faneyte, Ummi Yanuba Rentería Wouters, Bryan Nurhakim music Chelsea Laverne image and scenography Studio10.04- Markus Sacharias lighting design Thomas Brand costume Jonathan Ho text Gita Hacham courtesy of Stichting Dansgroep Amsterdam a co-production of ICK Dans Amsterdam and Stichting Kindvol.

About Christian Guerematchi 

Christian Guerematchi (Slovenia, 1981) is a creator and performer with a ballet and contemporary background and is one of the artists in residence at ICK Artist Space. In his work, Christian Guerematchi looks at how fragments of history carry black culture further. He did this in 2022 with the piece 'Hissy Fit' in which he viewed the resounding echo of the LA Riots in 1992 from the afro pessimism of author Frank B. Wilderson III. Wilderson describes a centuries-long cycle of violence that keeps black people under control.

With 'N.A.M.: 'Non Aligned Movement' in 2020, Guerematchi created an afro-futuristic world in which he unraveled the meaning of black European identity as black president Tito of Yugoslavia. Now with FUNK he connects the two concepts: afro pessimism and afrofuturism. He contrasts the hopelessness of Afro-Pessimism according to Frantz Fanon in 'Black Skin, White Masks' with the Afro-futuristic and the escapist poetry of Sun Ra.

© Constantin Trommlitz
© Constantin Trommlitz
© Constantin Trommlitz
© Constantin Trommlitz
© Constantin Trommlitz