Tell us about your show. AMKA is a journey of being, becoming and existence – exploring the awakening of black bodies from the African Diaspora in Australia. The show explores African identity through trans-disciplinary storytelling where the past, present and future encounter one another. Spoken word, music, dance, theatre and projection interweave experiences of belonging and emancipation.
What truths do you hope your performance will expose? The African proverb, “if you want to go quickly, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. We continue to learn from the wisdom of stories that impart tales of a collective consciousness of moving together, purposefully. We’ll not stay seated in the telling of our truths. We’ll rise.
Why is expression important? Another African proverb: “birds sing not because they have the answers but because they have songs”. Born to inspire, the stories of our own becoming need to be imagined and determined by us – we are incessantly becoming. We’ve accumulated privilege at the expense of another; we are both shackled and free.
Describe your show in three words. Brave. Emotive. Challenging.
Is there a signature approach to how you perform? “We desire to bequeath two things to our children; the first one is roots, the other one is wings,” – Sudanese proverb. Our signature approach is indicative of how we’ve collaborated to dream and realise AMKA. The witnessing of each other’s transformation is lush, at its own pace and intergenerational.
